


The Black Prince & the White Lion V.1

by Midnight1890



Series: The Black Prince and the White Lion Drafts [1]
Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Angst, Bad Decisions, Bad Jokes, Bad Pick-Up Lines, Bathing/Washing, Being Walked In On, Boats and Ships, Dragon Edition, Dragons, Eventual Smut, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/F, F/M, Fire, Flashbacks, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Fluffy Wrathion, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I sorta have an idea on where this is going :3, Idiots in Love, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Literal Sleeping Together, M/M, Magic, Making Love, Making Out, My First Work in This Fandom, Orc Attack, Orcs, Past Rape/Non-con, Prophetic Dreams, Prophetic Visions, Puns & Word Play, Religion, Slow Burn, Smut, The Talk, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Werewolves, first draft, haha puns, nerds
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:53:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 24,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23521876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Midnight1890/pseuds/Midnight1890
Summary: Left under the supervision of the last black dragon left on Azeroth, Anduin Wrynn comes looking for safety from his enemies and leaves with more than he could have imagined.
Relationships: Kalecgos/Jaina Proudmoore, Left/Right (Warcraft), Wrathion/Anduin Wrynn
Series: The Black Prince and the White Lion Drafts [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1736653
Comments: 4
Kudos: 49





	1. The Black Prince

**Author's Note:**

> Note: For the purposes of this story the Dragon Aspects are still able to reproduce normally and while they are weakened from their expenditures against Deathwing but are not mortals. It is still considered the Age of Mortals however.
> 
> Wrathion is the dragon equivalent of an 18 year old. Anduin is 19.
> 
> This is my first draft. The new chapters I write will be posted here and be farther polished in the next draft. Thanks everyone for understanding as I go through a rewrite.

The Black Prince. Such an honorable title for such a hated position.

Dragon,

Son of a mad king,

Last of his kind.

The Black Prince had a lot stacked against him when it came to his reputation, even more so because of the madness and corruption that ran in his blood.

Still, Wrathion did his best to alleviate the concerns of his other draconic kin. After all, Neltharion was not the only dragon aspect to go mad. Malygos too followed in that path, the madness manifested differently but the Nexus War was plenty of evidence to be a testament to Malygos' fall. As well as the Aspect of Time, who had gone mad in an alternate timeline. The Earth Warder, The Spell Weaver, and The Infinite all fallen to an insanity of one kind or another.

Yet all the other dragon aspects, hell, the entirety of Azeroth, looked at him with disdain, anger, and even fear in some cases. When Wrathion had been younger, many citizens in the major cities of Stormwind and Orgrimmar had approached him, demanding compensation for the loss of their loved ones or personal effects lost in the attack on both major cities. The attacks carried out by Deathwing. Not Wrathion.

Though perhaps he could see why people could be a bit intimidated, he wasn't them! It wasn't fair to judge him for the crimes of his crazed kin.

It was a relief for him that after the death of his father, the world moved on. The mystical lands of Pandaria had been rediscovered and Wrathion had swiftly moved from his makeshift nest in Onyxia’s former lair. He hadn’t hated that place as much as he had hated Nefarian’s citadel.

Nefarian’s Lair had been a place where dragons had been experimented on to create abominations to further Nefarian’s plans.

The worst part was Nefarian was Wrathion’s half-brother. United by the blood of their father, who was worse than the horrible experimenter that was Nefarian. Onyxia, Wrathion's half sister, had been known as the brood mother, and had been a horrible contributor to Deathwing as well, helping hatch the armies that later became Deathwing’s servants. His half-siblings had chosen their lairs well. The Black Dragonflight had once been noble protectors of the earth fondly known as Azeroth and the dragon's choices in nests reflected such. Neltharion, more famously known as Deathwing, had a cave deep underground somewhere on a lost island that had served as his lair for many thousands of years. Nefarian had chosen a castle fortress carved into the side of a mountain. Onyxia had chosen a cave that spiraled down for miles and miles and whose mouth was shaped like a dragon’s toothy maw.

Wrathion, on the other hand, had not yet chosen a nest, partially because he was unsure if he would grow to be the size of his father, whose wingspan had reached more than 1,000 feet long, or if he would stop about the size Onyxia and Netharion had at about normal dragon size. That would end up helping determine Wrathion’s home, that and Wrathion had not found a good starting foundation yet. He was still traveling and learning what he could from his sibling's lairs. Many of Nefarian’s notes and discoveries could help turn the tides against any coming threats to Azeroth, if the execution was questionable at best. Some of Nefarian's studies were more interested in the differences between the dragon flights. The Dragonflights were the orders of dragon differentiated by their colors but all were considered equal to one another, with five major colors in all, black, broze, red, blue, and green. Neferian had been studying what gave them power, what made them different, cultural developments of the dragons. These were much more readily useful.

Onyxia’s lair served as a place for him to learn to transform back and forth from humanoid to dragon form. It was a long and painful process at first but eventually, he learned to make his humanoid form look a little more grown than his whelp form.

His dragon form was just a whelp still, he couldn’t lie in his true form the way he could in his humanoid. His humanoid form looked like a young male human with glowing red eyes, long curly black hair, and olive skin.

“Wrathion?” A voice said from the entrance of the tavern in Pandaria that Wrathion had taken up residence in. The tavern had two stories, the ground floor was small with a bar and a wooden table with similar wooden benches tucked underneath it, the upstairs floor consisted of about six bed chambers and connected to Wrathion's chambers, was a porch that overlooked the mountain and underneath it on the outside of the tavern was a hot bath that Wrathion enjoyed soaking in. Wrathion jolted up from where he had been reclining before, lost in thought. An orcish woman stood in the entryway, blocking out the sunlight and whoever was behind her. He could sense their movement, hear their hushed voices.

“What is it Left?” He asked calmly, Left was one of his devoted bodyguards. Left was her spy name, only Wrathion knew her identity due to security concerns. Right was his other, a human woman who was gifted in the finer manipulation of tactics and war. A true spy compared to Left’s more being an obvious bodyguard.

“Someone of high importance wishes to speak with you,” Left answered.

“Me?” Wrathion cocked his head innocently. “Send them in.”

Wrathion’s confidence fell away instantly when Left stood aside revealing the King of the Alliance, a huge human man with long brown hair, standing at his door.


	2. The White Lion

This was all that was left of the horrific Deathwing? Anduin, prince of Stormwind, peered past the shadow of his father from where he had been standing behind the High King. Genn Graymane, king of the fallen city of Gilneas, stood beside Anduin. The negotiation party had been accompanied by a handful of guards, who stood a respectful distance away. Anduin wanted to look at the alleged "Black Prince" and found himself quite surprised at what he found; a boy just younger than him staring back at him. The boy wore mostly white and gray, his head adorned in a white turban that was decorated with red jewels. His general outfit consisting of scale mail gauntlets, boots and shoulders. White robes made up the remainder of the appearance.

"The infamous Black Prince." Anduin's father began, crossing his arms over his chest.

The boy looked up at the King, his red eyes betraying none of his thoughts. "Black Emperor now. Thanks only to the Champions of the Alliance who were responsible for the death of my father." The boy spoke plainly, eloquently and as though he was raised among royalty, not by dragons or wolves or whatever else Anduin had imagined him growing up with.

"Are you saying you'd rather that monster was still alive today?" Varian snarled.

"Of course not." The boy looked at his long black claw-like nails, brushing them off idly. "But think of it this way, I am the Emperor of my kind and I'm not any older than the little lion cowering behind you."

Anduin flinched from being called out like that. He spoke much the way that Onyxia, the dragoness who had tormented Anduin and Varian, had spoken many years before. Nearly the same tone of voice and mannerisms but not quite intimidating enough to pull it off entirely.

"He's what I've come to speak to you about." Varian sighed glancing at Genn, Genn was covered in shaggy gray fur and yet still stood tall like a human, the Worgen shrugged.

"Then speak." The boy ordered.

"Anduin has been badly injured and is being hunted by members of the Horde. I wish to leave him in the safety of a dragon's lair."

The boy scoffed. "This is not my lair. My lair is far from here."

"Well, I need him to be somewhere safe, where he won't be found unless I come back for him."

"Yet you found me without trouble." The boy replied evenly.

"I have..." another glance was swapped between Genn and Varian. "Very good help."

"Clearly." The dragon huffed, sending smoke curling from under his lips. "And what would I get for doing you this favor?"

Varian straightened at that. "You would earn the favor of the Alliance. Or perhaps if you'd rather. We'd be willing to pay you handsomely in exchange for his guaranteed health and safety."

The dragon's red eyes glinted greedily as he considered. "I want the Favor of the Alliance and a half a million gold." He replied after a moment's thought.

Varian turned the numbers over in his head. Anduin knew that the treasury would hardly take a hit with a half a million gold but he also knew wars were expensive, and this was going to be a long one Anduin suspected. "Very well." Varian nodded.

"Are you crazy?" Genn barked beside Varian.

"I cannot risk him being killed by Garrosh. You'd do the same if it was Tess."

Garrosh was the estranged leader of the Horde, a faction whose races consisted of the more 'savage' races, trolls, and orcs mostly. The Horde were mortal enemies of the Alliance, which was made up of the more 'civilized' races, humans and elves predominantly.

Genn snarled but backed away, allowing his king to do as he wished. Anduin couldn't help but look up at his father with a concern. He had talked with Varian about this before and had agreed to it but now that it was actually happening, anxiety twitched in the pit of his stomach. "I agree to your terms dragon. The gold will be delivered to you in payments of 5,000 a week in exchange for a letter from Anduin, and I will check, with details about how he is holding up."

"and if this stay extends longer than that allotted time?"

"We can compensate for your time."

The dragon regarded Varian carefully. "Deal." The dragon said and his eyes gleamed almost as bright as the sun and Varian hissed and stumbled away from the threshold to the quaint tavern. Despite seeming like he was in pain Varian grinned.

"Dad?" Anduin asked from behind him. "Are you okay?"

"Yes." Varian smiled down at his son. "That's exactly what I hoped would happen."

"What are you on about?" Genn asked.

"A black dragon cannot go back on a promise made that way." Varian turned to Anduin, "you will be safe here."

"Promise?"

Varian set a hand on Anduin's shoulder, "I promise."


	3. Introductions

_What the hells did I just agree to??_ Wrathion scolded himself. Dragons were well known for their desire for large hoards and he had not realized how quickly it would come over him at the mention of a million gold. Thankfully, he had been at least coherent enough to take the favor of one of the world's major factions... but stupid enough to make it a pact. By the titans, he wanted that gold. Not because he needed it but because a dragon, especially a little one, would age faster in the presence of vast amounts of wealth, so it would fix a lot of his issues.

But what is done is done, and Wrathion now had to figure out what he was going to do with the lion's cub. He watched silently as the High King and his werewolf companion said goodbye to the cub, wishing him safety and so on. Eventually the High King urged his son to meet the cub's host but wanted to stay behind just long enough to watch, make sure he had made the right choice.

The lion cub stood in the threshold of the inn where his father had been previously, yet he was much tinier than his father. His frame shook ever so slightly now that he was away from what was familiar, he lacked the confidence and skill to be able to back himself up. He took one last nervous glance at Varian before he took a deep breath and faced Wrathion. "Son of Neltharion, I am honored you have agreed to help us in these trying times." The cub's voice wavered as he went to kneel before the dragon but he winced in pain and couldn't quite get one of his legs to work with him.

"Son of Neltharion..." Wrathion gave the boy a strange look, "did you know that or did you rehearse it?"

"I knew Deathwing's original name." The boy said proudly. "Many have forgotten it, but the Light has not forgotten what he once was."

"You're a priest."

"Yes." The boy winced again.

"Stop hurting yourself. Stand and tell me your name." Wrathion ordered, lounging his elbows back on the table which he had been sitting at and had turned around from to listen to Left.

The boy swallowed and stood shakily, another wince but once he got there, he was okay it seemed. "My name is Anduin Llane Wrynn." The boy said "May I ask yours?"

Wrathion tilted his head, no one had really asked him to introduce himself. "Why do you wish to know, Anduin?"

Anduin swallowed and looked back to see what his father was thinking but the King and his werewolf, were gone. With a steadying breath, he answered, "I suspect you do not wish to live in your father's shadow. It is only polite to respect this wish as I do not wish to have my father's influence overshadow my own choices."

No wonder the kid had been hesitant to say that. Clearly the King loved his cub but then he was royalty. Anduin's path was paved largely by his father.

"My name is Wrathion, thank you, for taking into account what I wish to forget about my history." Wrathion was stunned almost out of feeling, this was a first, someone else asking him to be who he was without judgment of his father's actions. But he was grateful for this.

"Of course, Wrathion." The boy replied, he had a shaggy mane of blonde hair, bright blue eyes and wore gold and blue clothing that looked almost like armor without being armor. "What brings a mighty dragon to Pandaria?"

"I could ask you the same question," Wrathion replied.

"My father, he wishes to protect Pandaria from the savage influence of the Horde, from my understanding." Anduin explained, "your turn."

Wrathion smirked at that, "My turn? I am here to learn the secrets it has to offer. I am still young and I wish to expand my knowledge." It was not a lie per say, just part of the truth, much like Anduin’s had been.

"A noble pursuit." Anduin nodded. "If I may I would like to accompany you to some of these exploits it is my duty as the future king to know as much as I can before assuming the throne."

"Very well." Wrathion agreed. It would give him something to do with the kid. "Come and sit, let us play a game of Jihui. We have much to learn of each other."


	4. Cow Tipping and Stargazing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special Thanks to Codradin for helping me co-writing this with me!

Anduin was nearly nineteen when the bell hit him. Everyone had thought he would never live to see through his first whole year of adulthood. Anduin, thank the Light, pulled through, and now all that there was to remind him of the incident was a birthday and bad leg. To some extent it worked fine, but sometimes if he tried to do more than walk with it, it wouldn't work or would be painful. So taking a knee in front of the dragon as his father had instructed, had been difficult and the dragon had caught on.

"Are you alright?" Wrathion had asked when Anduin hesitantly took a seat across from him, relieved when no pain came.

"Yes, I am alright." Anduin replied "it was an accident-" Anduin really meant attack but no need to stress the dragon out this quickly into their arrangement. "I am fully healed now, this leg just doesn't work with me sometimes."

"Your father knows about it?"

"Yes."

Wrathion nodded, his ears perked back up from where they were subtly flattened to his head, "Very well, if you need assistance with anything, let me or my guards know."

"What are their names?" Anduin asked looking at the women flanking the dragon, they were beautiful, no doubt, but they didn't really strike Anduin the way some people did.

"This is Left." Wrathion signaled to the woman on his left, she was an Orcish woman with long tusks and a huge crossbow and what looked like a scimitar attached to her belt. "And this is Right." Wrathion jerked a thumb at the woman on his right, a human woman with similar gear.

"Simple enough."

"Indeed." Wrathion gave him a toothy, almost unnerving grin and thus the game of Jihui began.

Several hours of this game passed, it was quite the learning curve, and more so to try and match Wrathion move for move, but eventually, Anduin figured out some tricks to get Wrathion to feel a little too overconfident and overstep himself.

After a game, Wrathion pushed away from the table (or rather, pushed the table away from him), stretched and said: "let's go do something."

"Like...what?" Anduin replied shuffling out from under the table as well and working some cramps out of his back. He had been having fun but it was time for a break, for his... well everything's sake.

Wrathion gave him an evil smile. "We're going to go do something you've never done before." He announced proudly.

"The... future? Aren't you a Black dragon, not a Bronze?" Anduin replied sarcastically, that wasn't that specific.

Wrathion rolled his eyes, "No, somewhere in present-day I think." Wrathion looked him over a long second, "Your outfit is terrible and horribly recognizable, let's get you something... proper."

Anduin thought about being offended but then, he never much liked this outfit either and he was talking to a dragon, who were known for their fashion sense. Well, Black Dragons maybe not so much but he'd seen portraits of Ysera and Alexstraza.

Wrathion nearly seemed to fly up the stairs located in the northern corner with how fast he moved. Anduin followed at a much slower hobble, stairs had always been hard on the injury. By the time he got up to the top, he found several rooms separated by what looked like paper walls, but Anduin knew to be much stronger and more soundproof than any parchment or paper he knew of.

At the end of a hallway of about six rooms per side of the hall, a large wooden double door was open and the light was pouring out of it. Anduin approached cautiously and heard the sounds of digging, clattering and "no-no, well maybe... no actually that's horrid," from inside. Anduin poked his head through the threshold of the door and found some of the most elegant quarters he had ever seen inside. The room was bathed in light from what looked like refined lamps, but no smell of oil so Anduin didn't know what fueled the lamp. In the back middle of the room was a massive king-sized bed with a trunk in front of it, kneeling in front of it was Wrathion and a puddle of discarded clothing.

"Everything okay?" Anduin called from the door.

"Yes yes, just... come here." Anduin approached him cautiously, once he got within sight of the dragon Wrathion held up a tunic and looked between Anduin and the clothing. "Try this one." He ordered tossing the black fabric in Anduin's general direction.

"Right here?" Anduin asked, stumbling to catch the misguided tunic.

"Unless you want to pick out your chamber." Wrathion said, "but I'll likely be coming in and out anyways, I want to see how they look before I set out with you." Wrathion met his eyes for a long second unblinking. "I won't look while you change if you don't want me to."

Anduin scooted so he was solidly behind Wrathion, so the dragon would have to turn all the way around to see him, before he carefully set the shirt down on a conspicuously empty table and began to pull his decorations off, golden bordered stole came first and blue shawl followed shortly thereafter. Finally, after another few moments, his shirt came off, with a final glance to make sure Wrathion wasn't looking before he did so. Tattered across Anduin’s skin was horrid scars from where the bell had smashed him, a few from where his ribs had jutted out of his chest after the initial blow and scratches from his skirmishes with the Horde as of late.

As he pulled the black fabric of the tunic over his head, he noticed that the tunic was incredibly well made and very soft, allowing Anduin to breathe and flex but not be too loose or revealing. He even suspected there was a bit of padding to serve as a small amount of amour in it. I need to find out who this guy's tailor is! He thought absently, "Oh and try these!" Wrathion called tossing a heap of clothing over at him. Anduin jumped away from them as they clattered to the floor. Lifting them up he found it also had a black bead necklace, which he put on. The other cloth object was a set of linen pants but also finely made from first brush of his fingers against it.

Another look was cast at Wrathion before Anduin dared begin the process to change into these. Seeing that the dragon was still rummaging through his trunk Anduin breathed a sigh of relief, "let me know when you're ready!" Wrathion said distantly.

Anduin's suspicions about the quality of these linen pants were correct. Just like the tunic, they fit well without crushing him and still allowed him movement.

"Are we the same size?" Anduin asked, he definitely had a similar build to Wrathion but surely not a perfect match, right?

"I don’t know, these are all enchanted to fit whoever wears them." Wrathion replied, "Can I look now?"

Anduin took a second to adjust the leather belt tossed with the rest of the clothing, "yeah you're good now."

Wrathion made a show of turning around and coming up to examine Anduin. He made several hums and noncommittal sounds that worried Anduin. "Turn around," Wrathion ordered. Anduin followed instructions and waited only a minute or so more before he had his answer. "You look good in this, well no, the belt needs to change to be black and the beads...the beads can go."

Wrathion turned and went back to the trunk and began to load all the discarded clothing back into it, but not before pulling out the belt he was thinking of and extending a hand to indicate he wanted Anduin to hand over the items he requested. Anduin obliged and took the new belt choice. Wrathion slammed the trunk closed, flicked his wrist at it and then turned to the other prince. His red eyes glinting curiously at Anduin as he examined. "Yes, that will work." He nearly purred.

Anduin noticed he had selected another outfit as well, along with some elaborate jewelry. "You don't want me wearing that, do you?"

"You aren't nearly pretty enough to pull that off." Wrathion replied flatly, "no, I'm going to be wearing that."

"Hey!" Anduin hissed.

"I said pretty, you're plenty handsome, but it requires a certain...grace," Wrathion explained, the backhanded compliment still made Anduin's cheeks flush.

"Thanks, I think," Anduin replied and then realized a much bigger issue, "you're not going to change in here... are you?"

"This is... my chambers. So yes... I am going to change in here."

"But I'm standing right here!"

"So? You can watch if you'd like," There was a strange glint in his eyes when he said it. "Or you can walk out the door to my room."

"Oh." Anduin felt sort of stupid because of the simple solution. Hobbling out as quick as he could, jumping when he saw Left and Right standing on their respective sides of the door. Anduin had not noticed them come up the stairs, hadn't even heard them when they flanked the door. "Do you guys sleep?" He asked.

"We take shifts during the night." Right answered, Left looked straight ahead.

"Which one doesn't get to sleep before Wrathion wakes up?"

"The one who isn't chatty." Left replied.

"The one whose breakfast consists entirely of coffee." Right said.

"We ready to go?" Wrathion's voice said from behind Anduin, making him jump.

"Yes." Both girls said at once.

"Where are we going?" Anduin asked again.

"You'll see," Wrathion said with a small smirk.

"Better question," Anduin continued his thought as though Wrathion hadn't said anything. "We're on a mountainside surrounded in mist, how are we getting down?"

"How did you get up?" Wrathion asked a question to reply. Nudging Anduin aside so he could squeeze past.

"Horses."

"Then you will be using horses to get down."

"Don't you mean 'we'?"

"I eat horses, not ride them." The dragon said pointedly. Descending the staircase with ease and Anduin noticed his new outfit nearly sparkled, he had golden bands looped around his ears in at least three places and his outfit was indeed sleek and elegant. His hair, curly and black, was released from the white turban it had been in all day and he smelled faintly of an expensive cologne that Anduin could not quite name. "Meet me at the docks."

***

The sun had set by the time Left, Right and Anduin made it down to the docks Wrathion had mentioned, (Left and Right knew it better than he) and found Wrathion sitting on a stack of crates, "you finally made it!" He flipped his hair back behind his shoulder and slipped off the crates, landing neatly beside the group. "Leave the horses here." Left and Right slid off the horses instantly. Anduin took a second longer, wondering what they were doing here of all places. He had seen a pier before.

"That's our boat," Wrathion said as a ship sailed into the harbor.

It proudly bore the Alliance flag and when it docked the caller yelled "All aboard for Stormwind City!"

Anduin shot a look at Wrathion. "I've been to my capital and my home city before!"

"I understand that," Wrathion replied. "Just... trust me." The group boarded and Anduin went to tip the deckhands a couple of silver but they all diligently refused and say that their boss paid them more than enough to help them along.

"Who's your boss?" Anduin asked a man.

"Behind you." The human replied. He seemed well educated, well-fed, a ring on his finger suggested married.

Anduin turned around to see Wrathion looming behind him, not overly close, just watching Anduin interact with the crewman. "How long have you been there?" Anduin hissed.

"We are both standing on the center deck. It's not exactly a good place for private conversations." Wrathion replied.

"You own these boats?"

"Yes."

"How much do you pay them?"

"A gold piece a day," Wrathion replied. "For the deckhands. The better ones get two and a promotion, my captain and first mates get five."

"Wow." Anduin was a little awed. "No wonder you need that half million."

"Oh no, I have plenty of 'inheritance' from my father to afford this and my stay at the tavern for more than a hundred thousand years. I am in no hurry for that. Most of your father's gold will go to my personal hoard."

Anduin took a seat in a nearby chair. The boat had an inside section with tables and chairs set up, and thus allowed a convient place to rest. "There's a difference?"

"Savings versus Spending money," Wrathion said taking a seat across from Anduin.

"Ah." Anduin looked up and saw his home city sprawled out before him through a window. "Woah... that was fast!"

"We don't exactly have all night, now do we?" Wrathion said standing again and gesturing Anduin and the guards to follow. As Anduin passed, he saw on the bow a person in light clothing, arcane power sparkling around their fingers and then fading out. _A portal?_

"I'm beginning to realize I've never seen a proper harbor." Wrathion mused as he gazed around the harbor, "well, not one that's not fully owned by me anyways."

Anduin was surprised by that for a moment, before realizing Wrathion probably had not.

"Well, there's quite a large one here in Stormwind, I don't know if you noticed already."

Wrathion snorted to himself, the individual snort became something more of a laugh, "I'm sorry, maybe I just don't understand Common very well but that just sounds like a really bad innuendo. Like 'hey baby, want to see my Harbor?"

Anduin choked on a laugh, giving Wrathion an amused glare. "Please never say that again."

Wrathion waggled his eyebrows playfully in response. "What, don't you want to park your boat in my harbor?" Wrathion teased.

Anduin whacked him on the shoulder, making the dragon laugh. "Shut up before I throw you into the actual harbor." Anduin threatened, getting an amused eye-roll in response.

"Yes, fine, your majesty." Anduin huffed in annoyance, and several moments of silence passed as they walked through the bustling streets of the city, the cathedral bell tolling in the distance.

"I do have to ask," Anduin began, "What's it like to be a dragon? Is changing into a human form like a druid shapeshift?" He could not help his curiosity. It was not very often one got to speak to a dragon, let alone one that didn't seem to mind a bit of prodding.

Wrathion shrugged. "In dragon form, you feel... powerful. Even when you're extraordinarily little."

"And changing into a human?"

Wrathion let out a long, exasperated groan. "Fuck that."

Anduin burst into a fit of surprised laughter. "Is it really that bad?"

Wrathion had a very tired, annoyed look on his face. "It's awful. I constantly feel like I need to stretch. I keep trying to use limbs I no longer have. Do you know how terrible it is to suddenly be grounded when you've been able to fly on your own your whole life?"

Anduin laughed again at the exhausted sincerity in his voice. "I don't, but that sounds pretty annoying."

"It is!"

Anduin was giggling uncontrollably under his breath. He couldn't help it, the sheer exasperation the dragon was radiating was incredibly amusing for some reason.

"Do you want to go somewhere to stretch your wings?"

Wrathion grimaced. "I'd love to, but turning into a dragon, no matter how small, is a little, awkward in populated places."

Anduin raised an eyebrow. "That's why we do it somewhere that's not the city."

Wrathion mimicked his expression, but he had a slight smirk on his face. "You trying to take me somewhere more private, Prince?"

Anduin huffed and shoved him lightly, choosing to ignore the heat that rose to his face. "Shut up! You know that's not what I mean!"

Wrathion just laughed. After that, they engaged in idle banter until Anduin had followed Wrathion through the city to the main section of the city and down the main street, which was fairly quiet now, out into Elwyn Forest past the walls of the city onto a well-used dirt road that could lead to Northshire Abbey or Goldshire depending on which turn one took during a fork in the road.

There was a soft flutter beside Anduin and when the young priest turned to look Wrathion was gone and in his place was an itty bitty little baby black and red dragon. "Aww! You're so little!" Anduin exclaimed without thinking.

The dragon rolled his bright red eyes. "That's not what your dad said last night." Wrathion huffed. Flapping his little wings with surprising power, he plopped down atop Anduin's head, "onwards noble steed! To Goldshire!' Anduin rolled his eyes but even the dragon's voice had shrunk down with him so he had an adorable scaly kitten, who without a good comeback had no issue resorting to a 'your mom' joke. Well 'your dad' in this case but still. Anduin put on a show of sighing before he obliged the tiny dragon and began to wander towards the town, said dragon delighted that his plan had been a success.

He walked in silence for a while and as the signs pointing to Goldshire became more urgent Wrathion spoke again, "alright when we get there, don't say hi or introduce yourself to anyone. You're rather recognizable as it is!" Wrathion instructed as he flapped off, transforming back into a human. "Titans, this form is restraining." He grunted, his voice a normal pitch again as he stretched his shoulders. "If anyone asks, your name is Tress and you're passing through on your way to Redridge."

"Will anybody still be out?" Anduin ran a hand through his hair to put it back in place from where the dragon had ruffled it.

"Probably not but just in case."

"Okay then, what about you?"

"I'm Derrek and I'm an old friend of yours taking you out to my farmstead in Redridge," Wrathion replied without missing a beat.

"You think about this a lot?" Anduin quieted as the village came into sight.

"I had some time while I waited for the rest of you."

"Hey, were are Left and Right anyways?" Anduin inquired, suddenly realizing that he hadn't seen either of the girls since they docked in Stormwind Harbor.

"Staying out of sight. Orcs aren't particularly welcome in Stormwind."

"Touché." Anduin nodded, scanning the tree line but saw no movement.

Thankfully, when they reached the square of the tiny town that was Goldshire it was empty, all the residents or travelers having gone to sleep for the evening. "This way!" Wrathion whispered, taking off on a side road that led to a loggers camp some miles down.

"How much farther?" Anduin asked, his leg was starting to hurt.

"Not much," Wrathion promised, straying off the path and hopping over a wooden fence.

"I... can't do that." Anduin reminded Wrathion gently.

"Sure you can. I'll help." Wrathion scoffed, "give me the bad one." Anduin did so with some hesitation, but thankfully Wrathion was gentle in his hold and helped Anduin situate so he simply slid over the fence like on would slide off a horse. "There we go! See? Nothing to worry about!" He purred. Anduin nodded, he was grateful for Wrathion at least to have planned for or worked around Anduin's injury. Together they crept into a field with easily a hundred cows scattered about, deep in sleep.

Wrathion beckoned Anduin closer as he stood beside one of the massive animals. With a suppressed grin the dragon gently pushed the cow so it rolled onto its side. The animal blinked lazily at him and accepted this new change in position, curling up and resuming its rest. "Are you serious?" Anduin hissed under his breath. "You dragged me out here to bother farm animals? What's next? Pulling cat's tails?"

"We're not hurting them!" Wrathion retorted, "just try it it'll be fun!"

"I am not going cow tipping with you!" Anduin snapped and stalked off, going around the fence and finding a grassy hill and finding a place to sit. "By the Light, this is my babysitter?" He groaned into his hands, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"Okay, okay." Wrathion's voice said as something sat next to Anduin on the grass. "This is good too." Anduin peeked out between his fingers and saw Wrathion gazing up into the star-speckled sky. "To think, my father's wings once darkened this beautiful atmosphere, this lush world, and tried to crush all the wonder out of it... it’s a shame. He should have been the one to most appreciate all the things there are to see in this life."

Anduin lay back into the grass, following his gaze up with Wrathion's. "I hate to ask this, but are you glad he's gone?"

"Yes," Wrathion said after a moment. "But for all the horrid things he did, he was still my father."

"I understand." Anduin nodded even though Wrathion wasn't looking at him, "I mean, I hate living in my dad's shadow, but I still love him to death and well I know he loves me. I'd be devastated if he died, even if we don't always agree on a lot of things."

Wrathion's eyes slowly drifted to Anduin, "was this bargain your father struck his idea?"

"No." Anduin replied, "It was mine."

"Why sell yourself to a total stranger?"

"I..." Anduin thought for a long time, "I hated having to look over my shoulder, having my life be on the line because of Garrosh. After my injury, I knew I could not fight off Garrosh, even if there had been any chance at all it was taken from me, I can't even run from him now. My family has had a few run-ins with the Black Dragonflight, and none of them good, but I suspected you weren't like them and I wanted to try again."

"Did he fight your choice?"

"Yes, for a while." Anduin toyed with the soft fabric of his new clothing, "but he came to see that it was the best option we had."

"I see," Wrathion said and the conversation fell to silence. After a while, Wrathion stood up, "Come on. Let's go home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did some homework and found an outfit concept I like for Anduin so if you want to take a look you can right here: https://imgur.com/SW0YHzN
> 
> Wrathion might look something like this: https://imgur.com/a/YMNMQLp


	5. Fire!

Wrathion helped Anduin up with no trouble before they set off for Stormwind Harbor again. 

The walk was quiet for the most part until Anduin's head perked up. "Hey, do you smell smoke?"

"It's probably-" Wrathion took a big sniff of air, it _did_ smell like smoke and he wasn't breathing smoke or fire at all. "Me..." Wrathion trailed off and with some relief shifted into his dragon form and flapped above the treeline. Stormwind slept soundly but behind him, Goldshire had a bright light of orange around it. Wrathion landed again, transforming back into a human. "Goldshire has a fire going... a big one."

Anduin's eyes went wide, "shit, Goldshire might be on fire!" He realized and took off in the way the boys had just come from, limping because of his leg.

"What if it's not on fire? Then you've strained yourself for no reason!" Wrathion growled catching up in a single bound.

"That is a sacrifice I am willing to make to ensure the safety of my people." Anduin spat back. "If you're not with me I'll meet you at the boat if you are with me shut up and do something!" 

Wrathion stared blankly at Anduin for what felt like an hour but was only a few seconds. "Fine. What do you want me to do?"

"You're a dragon, you should know how best to combat fire!"

"But I don't!" Wrathion complained.

"Than go get people out! You're faster than me!" Anduin's blue eyes shimmered harshly. Wrathion nodded numbly and took off in the direction of Goldshire. _Left, Right I need someone to watch Anduin's ass!_ He thought, touching an emerald on one of his rings.

 _Understood._ Left replied in his mind.

Wrathion arrived in a horrible scene. The entire village of Goldshire was engulfed in flame, people were running everywhere, screaming, crying and among the chaos was... _orcs_

_Left stay hidden, they won't differentiate between you and the enemy._

"Come out come out little prince..." One snarled in the guttural language that was Orcish. With a snarl, Wrathion lept into the inn, hoping he had avoided detection. He touched the emerald again, _They're after Anduin! Watch out for an ambush!_ Wrathion pushed off the crumbling wall and raced out of the inn, now that he had sent his message. It wasn't these people's fault the orcs were after Anduin and the attack _pissed_ Wrathion off. They were hardly better than his father!

With a roar, Wrathion leaped on one of the Orcs and tore at him with sharp claws and teeth. Despite blood springing to the wounds it wasn't as effective as any of his draconic abilities might be, but his dragon form was just a bit too small to be useful in combat yet. He inhaled deeply as he saw a second orc approaching. With a snarl, he pushed off the first and as the orc stumbled to its feet in front of its friend, Wrathion unleashed his fire breath on both opponents reducing them to ash.

While still recovering his breath Wrathion looked around. There were more orcs, no surprise but then he realized he had backed himself against the forge and two more were much too close for any of the athletic trickery he had been using. Wrathion snarled bravely at the swords that were pointed at him, he would breathe again but that wasn't something he could do twice in a row and remain standing. Plus it didn't help the burning village situation. A flash of light blinded the dragon for a second but then it faded and in its wake, Wrathion saw Anduin, light flaring in his palm and snarl bared. 

"You alright?" Anduin asked keeping an eye out for more threats. 

"Yes, thanks to you." Wrathion replied.

"Go get people out of these buildings! I'll deal with the orcs!" A crossbow bolt shot dangerously close to both of the boys but flew past and slammed into the skull of another orc. Both turning to see the source of this shot. Left appeared out of the shadows just long enough to take the shot before vanishing among them again. With a slight nod in her direction, Wrathion darted over to the inn once more. Wrathion didn't mind the smoke and fire that had begun to devour the building if anything he was rather comfortable in it, but he knew humans were rather... flammable. He finally caught his breath searched the basement first, the chef and innkeeper huddled behind a barrel of mead. 

"Let's get you out of here friends!" Wrathion said as soon as he got far enough down the stairs to see the pair. 

"The guests!" The Innkeep choked out, he had inhaled a lot of the smoke it seemed. "Some are still up there!"

Wrathion narrowed his eyes. "You." He turned to the chef, "get you both out." He gazed back at the Innkeep, "I'll get them if I can alright?" The Innkeep nodded slowly as the chef helped him to his feet. "Find the man with blonde hair outside, he'll help you."

With that, the dragon zipped back up the basement stairs, rounded the corner and leaped over the banister to get to the upstairs. A part of the roof collapsed in front of the dragon, who flung himself backward to get out of the way and nearly stumbled back down a step or two. A fire couldn't hurt the dragon but a falling log sure could.

With a huge inhale the dragon breathed in the flame, held it for a second and then let it out as a small breath before he surged over the log and finished his ascent to the upper level. One of the two rooms was blocked off by smoldering wood pieces. The other was still mostly intact. A glance over the easily accessible room revealed nothing but he felt a tugging at his pant leg. A little girl gripped him desperately. "It's okay. I'll help you out." Wrathion promised the tiny human. She nodded and carefully came out of hiding. "Where are your parents?"

"I..I don't know." The little girl whimpered. 

"Alright, I'll keep looking, but let's get you out." Wrathion slowed his pace painfully to guide the little girl to the door and directing her to Anduin before he flew up the stairs again. Inhaling the flames again he began to claw at the rubble blocking the other door. He loosened the rocks as best as he could, soon he felt another set of hands working the wood. A glance over revealed Anduin kneeling beside him helping Wrathion clear some of the smaller rubble pieces so the stronger dragon could dislodge the bigger pieces. Around Anduin was a light glow of a protective bubble that Wrathion assumed was to protect the boy from the smoke. Soon the pair broke through and in the room was a small family. Father, mother, and a little boy. "Are you alright?" Both boys asked.

The little boy coughed and the parents looked frightened, having been carefully navigating the crumbling floor. "Where's Heather?" The father asked 

"Outside." Anduin replied, "we'll help you out."

The family carefully gathered themselves and lead the way out with Anduin and Wrathion in tow. "How'd it go with the orcs?" Wrathion asked quietly.

"We were able to drive them off."

"We?"

"Well besides Left and Right and anything you may think about humans, many humans do not like seeing their homes invaded and will fight to defend it."

"Understood."

"Any casualties on this side?" Anduin asked, glancing into the other room hesitantly.

"Lots of inhaled smoke but nothing a priest can't reverse I don't think."

"Thank the Light." Anduin's shoulders drooped. He suddenly looked exhausted. "Let's go home."

Wrathion couldn't agree more.


	6. Brave Face

Anduin and Wrathion had come to the agreement on the way home that Wrathion's room, was only about half full and could hold another person if they were comfortable with one another, and they had decided they were, so Anduin had moved all the stuff the pack mule he had been left with to the large room at the end of the upstairs hall. The furnishings would not change, as Anduin hadn't brought any save a trunk of personal belongings, and so Anduin got the wardrobe against the eastern wall of the suddenly giant room.

The north wall was where the beds rested. Wrathions was about a nightstand's length away from the western wall and Anduin tucked his bed, which he had borrowed from an unoccupied room, all the way in the Northeastern corner. Against the foot of Wrathion's bed was his trunk of clothing and on the southern wall was the conspicuously empty table which had two chairs sitting at it. At the foot on Anduin's bed was a similar chest but it contained all manner of study materials and things to do, books to read and wooden weapons to spar with. After moving in Anduin had decided to take a bath in the hot pool just under the back balcony of the inn. The same back balcony that was connected to Wrathion and Anduin's room, it had a rocking chair on it and it was a well-loved rocking chair at that. Aside from that, he was ecstatic to be able to bathe after a long day of smoke and fire. 

Anduin hadn't seen much of Wrathion since he had started moving in his stuff, save Wrathion taking long enough to clean out the wardrobe so Anduin could use it. Anduin hadn't really been worried about it until he got out to the hot pool, set his towel on a rock, stripped out of the odd clothes and slithered into the water and leaned back on the staircase leading down into the water. The warmth felt nice on his leg, well it felt nice, everywhere to be quite frank. Relaxed, Anduin began to sing a little tune,

"It's not fair to be alo--ah!" He nearly jumped out of the water when he realized the bright red light he had passed over without noticing were eyes, not lights. "How long have you been watching me?" He demanded from the dragon, who looked a little bit too smug that he had caught Anduin _singing._ Anduin's cheeks flushed a little, and then a lot when he realized that he was equally as exposed as Wrathion was, nothing but water obscuring visions of things Anduin did not want to see and did not want to be seen. _Don't be stupid he probably doesn't even have anything because this human form is just a disguise._

Wrathion purred softly, "Not long." he said, "though you haven't been here very long either so I suppose my point is invalid." His black curls even longer as he brushed them out with a wooden comb. "Don't worry I was just getting out when you walked out here so I decided to wait."

"To watch me?" Anduin narrowed his eyes.

"No so I wouldn't be streaking in front of you." Wrathion rolled his bright red eyes. _well maybe he does have-_ Anduin shook his head to clear that thought before he finished it.

"Just go, I'll close my eyes."

"No need," Wrathion said shifting into a dragon and fluttering away behind a rock opposite Anduin's, which was a little more than hip height so Wrathion changed back, dried himself off, grabbed his discarded clothing and fluttered away to the balcony.

Anduin sighed and finished bathing quickly, he heard howls up in the mountains and it reminded him too much of the orcs who had attacked Goldshire. Where they part of the Horde?

Anduin didn't know but didn't think his father would be pleased either way. He heaved himself out of the warm water, tying his towel around his waist and grabbed his clothes before heading upstairs. Right stood from the table Wrathion had been sitting at when Varian had approached and followed the boy up but stopped at the door threshold while Anduin continued past the threshold. 

Anduin did not see Wrathion and took the opportunity to dress in his nightclothes and then took a step out onto the cool balcony. Wrathion gently rocked in his chair and appeared to be reading. Wrathion was in fuzzy night clothes and seemed to be at peace with his surroundings, his book open in his lap and him focusing intently on it instead of glancing around like he was being watched like he normally did. "Wrathion?" Anduin whispered gently. The dragon looked up at him sleepily. "Let's come in for the night. It's cold out here."

"Alright." Wrathion agreed without the reluctance Anduin had expected. He stood and followed Anduin back into the tavern. Anduin plopped down on his bed, happy to feel something soft underneath him for the first time all day, while Wrathion slipped under his covers more methodically.

Anduin had expected them to go to sleep not long after that, but they ended up talking for many many hours despite the madness of the day.

"Did you see that Night Elf girl?" Anduin asked excitedly.

"No." Wrathion replied. 

"Oh come on you can't tell me she wasn't the prettiest thing you've ever seen!"

"She wasn't." 

"So you admit you saw her?!"

"Yes, but I didn't _notice_ her. It takes a lot to get a dragon to notice someone in that way."

"Well I noticed her!" Anduin retorted.

"I think you noticed the curves of a tree you lonely priest." Wrathion teased, his voice held no malice and honestly Anduin had seen him eyeing up some people too, though he'd deny it Anduin was sure.

"Would you two shut up and go to sleep?" Right snapped poking her head in the room.

"Sorry!" Anduin said quietly. Shifting so he lay down and closed his eyes to sleep.

Something was making one side of his pillow heavier than the other. Anduin tried to shove it off but to no avail. Blinking open his eyes he saw... a dragon whelp. He nearly jumped out of his skin. "Light! What are you doing over here?" He hissed. 

"I..." the dragon looked embarrassed. "I don't know. You just seemed... cold. You were shivering." Wrathion explained in the softest voice he could.

The dragon was admittedly warm. Anduin was about to send the dragon away anyways when he realized something. _He has no friends or family... he must be so lonely. Poor guy, being so brave around everyone and just taking everyone's doubts and expectations to become his father but... he has nothing for himself. I think we have more common ground than either of us assumed._ "No, it's okay," Anduin said catching the dragon and settling him on the sheets. _Looks like we both need each other. Thank you Light, for bringing me to a place I can finally help someone else._


	7. Accord

Wrathion woke up later than Anduin, he knew it the second he regained consciousness. The bed next to him was cold, save the heat emanating from his breath. He shifted into his human form and stretching before sliding off the bed.

Something about him felt... off, not wrong per se just, strange. A quick reworking of his disguise revealed nothing, save maybe his facial hair becoming a slight bit more prominent than before. _Then there must be something wrong with_ me _instead_ he noted. With a small sigh of anxiety, he shifted back into his true form.

Suddenly the space between him, the bed, the trunk, and the dresser was much too small and getting smaller. With a startled snarl Wrathion shifted back and scooted away from anything nearby. Proportions were normal again. _What is happening to me?_ He hissed to himself and tried again. This time the world got smaller but he didn't hit anything right off. He examined himself after taking a second to realize he wasn't hovering in the air like he normally did. Instead his front paws and back were both strong enough and long enough to touch the ground at the same time and balance him. He wondered briefly if dragons had a puberty stage of their adolescence but pushed the thought aside as curiosity overtook anything else. He reached up a forepaw and went to touch his head and promptly prodded himself with sharp horns. Setting the paw down, not minding the sting of being jabbed, he stretched his wings. As he did so he got a satisfactory little _woosh_ of air beneath their power and size. Though he did quickly realize as he spread his wings to their capacity that he was knocking books off their shelves and pushing aside furniture.

One last thing he could test here in the tavern. He took a deep breath in and roared with all his strength. The noise echoed through the nearby mountains and shook the building with its power. He felt rather smug and then quickly realized that the fact the tavern floor was holding up a dragon, albeit the size of a Polar Bear, up without complaint. He did admire how large he had gotten, from the size of a kitten to the size of a bear was a massive change to happen overnight. Much less all the other stuff.

Wrathion was finally a drake!

A head popped around the corner, blue eyes peered into the bedroom, "Wrathion?" Anduin asked, "the staff are worried about you."

"Yeah, it's me." He purred taking a seat, his head nearly touching the roof. Even his voice held exponentially more power than it had before. "Everything's fine."

"Wow!" Anduin smiled at him, "You're way bigger now than when I got up this morning!"

Wrathion cocked his head at him, "How big was I?"

"Maybe the size of a komodo dragon, " Anduin replied, measuring with his hands as he made his way over to his friend. He reached out to touch the obsidian colored scales but quickly restrained himself. "Sorry-uh may I? I've never actually felt a dragon's scale before."

Wrathion did the dragon equivalent of a shrug. "Sure." Anduin made a pleased noise and very gently reached out and set a hand of the dragon's flank. The contact surprised Wrathion, it was warm and soft and incredibly... exciting for lack of a better word. Anduin stroked Wrathion's side like one would pet a cat and to some degree, Wrathion was annoyed at the gentleness Anduin showed him but a much larger part of him wanted him to keep doing so forever, each touch sending more and more shocks to the excitement pooling in his chest. Wrathion felt something twitch in his belly and shook Anduin off, "That's enough." He tried to say gently despite the rising panic. Anduin, clearly without thinking glanced down to the dragon's underbelly and, seeming to regret his decision quickly looked back up at Wrathion's face instead. Before he could process what Anduin had seen a cold thought washed over him. "Shit. I'm late for the Accord." He snarled.

"The what?" Anduin asked seeming relieved at the change in subjects. 

"The Accord, listen we have to go but basically it's an annual meeting between all the Dragon Aspects." The Dragon Aspects were the leaders of the Dragonflights. Wrathion considered for a moment, "and I don't have time to horse you all the way down to the pier."

Anduin flushed a deep red color suddenly. "Well, maybe you're big enough now that I can... ride on your back?"

Wrathion caught the innuendo but had no time to respond to it. "Yes yes fine." He growled and crouched down so Anduin could carefully wriggle himself up onto the curve of Wrathion's back. He seemed almost giddy with getting to ride a dragon. This slightly annoyed Wrathion, he was not some mount to be collected in some adventure's journal. He didn't think that's what Anduin planned to do and again had no time to consider it.

"Are you two okay?" Right asked poking her head into the doorframe.

"Yeah, we're going to the Accord," Wrathion replied. 

"We'll meet you there."

"Thanks!" Wrathion nodded approval and began to plod out onto the balcony. Anduin ducked to avoid hitting the doorframe as Wrathion squeezed through it with only some amount of trouble. With a sharp breath, Wrathion leaped off the banister, spread his wings and _flew_ he soared into the sky with a few powerful beats of his wings. Anduin squeaked as Wrathion leaped and tried to do a little trick, but was still trying to figure out his body first. After his liftoff, Wrathion did his best to simply glide down the mountainside but would keep some distance between his underbelly and the treeline below. 

"Woo!" Anduin cheered from atop him, Wrathion roared in agreement and together they went soaring down the mountain shouting and roaring all the way. 

The landing was the hardest part. Wrathion tried his best to be gentle as he touched down, so as not to jostle Anduin off over his head if he could manage.

Unfortunately Anduin did get knocked off and was sent flying. Fortunately grabbing onto something as he went. Unfortunately, it was Wrathion's neck. Wrathion stumbled but was able to right himself before falling over completely. "Sorry!" He called back at the boy clinging onto him for dear life.

"Scared the Light out of me dude!" Anduin growled as he regained his balance. Wrathion shifted back into a human, which suddenly felt oddly comfortable. There was an awkward pause before Anduin let go of Wrathion and went over to take a seat on the grass. "Next time. We're going to need a saddle."

"Next time?" Wrathion replied. "Is there _going_ to be a next time?" 

Anduin smiled broadly at him then, which caught Wrathion by surprise, "that was the most fun I've had since like forever ago!" Anduin looked... very small then, like an 8-year-old child rather than a grown man to become king one day. It tugged at something inside Wrathion that he couldn't quite name. 

It was probably nothing. Wrathion decided, he was just hormonal.

"Wrathion?" Anduin's voice brought Wrathion back to the now.

"Sorry what were you saying?" Wrathion asked meeting gentle blue eyes.

"I was asking if it would be okay if we did some more practice with the flight." Anduin said patiently. 

"Yes that'd be fine." Wrathion said, voice cracking as he fought off a surge of emotion that swelled up inside him. He offered a hand to Anduin to help him up. Anduin took it and heaved himself up, their fingers staying within brushing distance for a few seconds too long and even when they separated they walked much closer together than they had previously. Anduin following Wrathion closely as the latter stepped onto the boat to Northrend.

The temperature dropped significantly after that. Wrathion looked up and knew he was in Dragonblight. The graveyard of dragons including the father of dragons, Galakrond.


	8. Welcome to the Aspects

Anduin had visited Northrend on a number of occasions. He had never liked it much. Not for any reason other than he hated the cold, especially since he was used to more temperate conditions. Wrathion seemed to have no such reservations as he stepped off the boat and on to the dock, easing his way to actual land before he transformed into a dragon again, crouching so again Anduin could clamor up onto the dragon.

Anduin squawked as Wrathion took off. He wasn't so concerned with the idea of flying, he had ridden griffins before, it was the fact that Wrathion had a greater than human intelligence and as a result was not as conscientious of his flight posture and might not fully understand that dropping Anduin from this heigh, while maybe an entertaining prank among dragons would be a death sentence to Anduin.

Despite his concerns, the pair arrived without incident. Though Anduin did come out of his thoughts as the ground got closer. "Try landing on all four feet when you land," Anduin suggested, might as well try it, see if it worked.

Wrathion didn't reply and Anduin began to worry the dragon hadn't heard or was offended at the comment but Wrathion did as he was asked and they landed with a gentle _thump._ Anduin still got knocked into the air a few inches because of gravity's effect on him.

Sliding down off the back of Wrathion, Anduin looked up and found that he was the closest to Wyrmrest Temple than he had ever been.

The tower loomed over him into the icy sky. The building, from Anduin's understanding, had four levels. The topmost level served as the roof and was where the battle with Deathwing and Ultraxion, Deathwing's experiment that had gone right, had taken place. Above the bones of Galakrond, Deathwing had taken a mighty blow thanks to the orc shaman Thrall, who had wielded the artifact/weapon the Dragon Soul. The Dragon Soul had been a powerful artifact created by the Dragon Aspects and had, ironically, been the idea of Neltharion. The weapon later disassembled Deathwing into nothing but atoms.

That battle had stretched as far as the Malestrom in the middle of the sea separating Kalimdor and The Eastern Kingdoms but it had begun here at Wrymrest Temple.

The next floor down was where the commander of the Wyrmrest defenders, Lord Afrasastrasz, resided, it also served as a war room if the need arose.

The level under that was the common sector, generally, this was as much of Wyrmrest Temple that mortals got to lay eyes on. Though that was not to downplay its beauty in and of itself.

The bottom floor, half-buried beneath the ice, was the room that severed as the portal room for the dragons. All five Dragonflights had a Portal to their respective realms. And the realms, as far as Anduin knew never having been through any of the portals, were as follows: The Black Dragonflight's, once charged with the protection of the world. Lived in a realm located in the heart of an active volcano, though it lay abandoned now that the Dragonflight had all but been wiped out, with its last remaining member staying in Pandaria for the time being.

The Red Dragonflight, protectors, and creators of life got a cherry tree grove that had once been ransacked by Deathwing's forces but had since recovered splendidly.

The Green Dragonflight, protectors of dreams and hope, got the Emerald Dream. The realm where all dreams, wishes, and hopes, were real, but so were all the nightmares and fears. The Green Dragons spent their time trying to control the balance between the two. It is said that once one falls asleep the mind wanders the Emerald Dream until one wakes.

The Blue Dragonflight, charged with the understanding of Azeroth's magical energies and helping others understand as well, resided in the Realm known as the Eye of Eternity, which was the home of magic in its purest form. After the Nexus War most of the Blue Dragonflight went extinct, but those that remained studied there. 

Last but not least was the Bronze Dragonflight's home in the Caverns of Time, which were located on the continent of Kalimdor. The Caverns of Time were where the Bronze Dragonflight guarded the time ways dutifully and protected all that had happened, no matter how bad, for it all served a greater purpose.

This chamber of Wyrmrest also apparently served as the council room for the Aspects since Wrathion plodded off down the icy chasm floor into the room. The room was circular in shape and on the edges of the room were the portals. More to the center of the room were five large circular platforms surrounding a collum of starlight, not harsh enough to be blinding but enough to illuminate the dragons placed on all the platforms but one. The second the pair entered, all eyes fell onto Wrathion. Anduin just happened to be in the perfect spot to notice the nervous tail-flick Wrathion gave before stepping up onto the vacant platform that was part of the circle of other Dragonflights.

Across from Wrathion, was Kalecgos, the Spell Weaver, Anduin had met him before but only in his human form. As a half-elf, Kalec had blue hair and eyes and spoke elegantly but now as a dragon at least ten times larger than Wrathion, he looked much more imposing. His horns alone were the size of three Anduin's, the latter feeling rather small in comparison suddenly, at only five and a half feet tall. 

Next to Kalecgos was the Green Dragon Ysera, the Dreamer, she was about a head taller than Kalcegos and floating between her horns was upside down golden crescent with divets gave it a glaive like appearance.

Next to her was a crimson dragon about a Ysera and a half tall, her horns and claws heavily adorned in jewels and other decorations. Alexstraza the Life-Binder in the flesh.

Closest to Wrathion was a Ysera sized Bronze Dragon, Nozdormu the Infinite, sometimes called Nozdormu the Timeless stood proud beside his decorated companions. 

Besides each Aspect were two smaller dragons, one on either side of the same color of their respective Aspect. Except Wrathion. Wrathion's only companion was a human.

"What doesss a mortal want with the affairssss of dragonss?" Nozdormu asked, golden eyes glinting as he recognized the human taking a spot besides Wrathion's flank.

"Wrathion!" Alexstraza thundered, "You're late, again." She hissed.

"Mighty Dragon Aspects," Anduin bowed as deep as he could without aggravating his leg, and to hide his body trembling, "I meant no disrespect by my presence." He explained smoothly.

"This one's father and I arranged an agreement that requires him to remain by my side at all times." Wrathion explained, "I am to protect the Prince."

Alexstraza glared at Wrathion. "Very well. I will forgive your tardiness this time." She hissed reluctantly. "Nozdormu, who is to speak first today?"

Nozdormu tilted his head. "Wrathion speaksss firssst. Kalecgossss next year."

Wrathion with a small intake of breath looked up at the other dragons in attendance. "Now that the rest of the Corrupted Black Dragonflight has been eradicated, I wish to take my place as the Black Aspect." He said his voice strained.

Alexstraza laughed, "You will not hold that title if I have any say in it." She snarled. Wrathion flinched away violently. Even his cool expression could not hide the hurt from the verbal blow.

"Sister," Ysera snapped from beside Alexstraza. "This is not Deathwing." 

"So what? Who's to say he's not already following his father's path."

"Alexstraza," Kalecgos began, "You have to let this go, Wrathion is not to be blamed for his father's sins."

"You want me to let go of the rape, torture and murder of my children, and the attempt on myself?" Alexstraza howled in rage and fury, eyes lighting on fire and turned on the Spell Weaver.

Kalecgos was unfazed. "Of course not." As he said that, something occurred to Anduin, the first being they were speaking Common instead of Draconic, why include the human in on the conversation? The second thing Anduin noticed was that while Alexstraza may be the Queen of Dragons her Aspect companions had no problem voicing their opinions around her.

"If I may," Anduin couldn't help but pipe up, standing as tall as he could, hiding his shaking hands behind his back. He had just interrupted borderline gods. All eyes turned to him. As much as Kalecgos was sticking up for Wrathion, Anduin hated to see the dragons fight. "Yesterday, a fire broke out in a town we were visiting. While Wrathion could not be hurt by the fire he went to great lengths to ensure the safety of everyone affected. I believe that given the proper guidance and mentorships from great beings such as yourself and being taught that he is better than his father, he will shape up the way you wish him to, rather than the way you fear he will."

Alexstraza leaned so she met Anduin at eye level. All the malice and fear in her gaze was gone. "Will you vouch for the drake in question?" She asked gently.

Anduin reached up and set a hand on her snout. "Absolutely, we all can help guide him. Azeroth needs a Earth Warder and Wrathion is a solid choice."

"Prove that Rheastrasza's sacrifices were not in vain." Kalecgos spoke.

Alexstraza looked between her friends. She turned to Nozdormu, "what about you?"

"I had to forgive myssself for a future of my fall to the madness that will never come to be. Thisss one deserves the sssame forgivenesssss."

Alexstraza nodded. "Very well, Wrathion, step forward." Wrathion, clearly hiding his excitement behind cool red eyes, stepped onto a central ring filled with sparkling stars. "Although we may not be the Titans, we have the power to proclaim a new Aspect in the event that one falls. I, Alexstraza will see to it that this Drake becomes everything that his father chose not to be. Kalecgos, present your gifts."

Anduin had the cold realization that he was about to witness the ascension of a God. He went to move out of the room, to give the dragons some privacy, yet it felt like he glued to the floor.

Kalecgos stepped into the circle with Wrathion. "We induvidualy have no ability to grant you the power we were disrupted by the titans, not alone but together we all may impart our wisdom and wishes onto you, granting you the power you will need to lead what is left of your kin," Kalecgos said. "My gift, as the youngest Aspect prior to you, is perseverance, strength, and wisdom. May it guide you during the seasons ahead." The dragons, with Kalecgos, having to crouch almost to reach, butted heads affectionately. Both muttering small words inaudible and in Draconic before Kalecgos stepped away.

Ysera came next; "before we became the Aspects, Alexstraza, Nozdormu, Neltharion, Malygos and myself all had to face trials. But never did we face them alone. My gifts to you are friendship, love, and hope. May you surround yourself in friends and family who care about you as deeply as you care about them." Again soft words and a headbutt was exchanged before Ysera stepped back.

Anduin suddenly noticed Ysera didn't need to crouch as much to reach Wrathion's level. He had about doubled in size since his exchange with Kalecgos.

Anduin watched as he grew in size again before Nozdormu stepped forward. "I have sssseen timelines where the world was destroyed and rebuilt. With my gift I give you patience, judgment and justice. Sssome times it takes patience to see the correct course of action. Yet sssome ssssituations require immediate action. It is up to you to decide what to do and when to do it." Nozdormu had to crouch down the least so far. They were also close enough now that Anduin could make out what they were saying. He understood some basic Draconic as part of the princely work he had studied, it had covered many languages, Draconic being one. "May the future bring you fortune." Nozdormu purred.

"And you, brother." Wrathion replied. Anduin suspected the other exchanges had been similar.

Alexstraza stepped forward. "I'll admit I have my concerns, and yet, so did the titans when appointing us as Aspects. With my gift, I bestow to you Clarity, Loyalty, and the love of a mother. May you always think of the struggles of another before yourself and feel the wrath of a mother directed at those who threaten the ones you hold close." Alexstraza had to lean down more than the others simply because of her size compared to Wrathion, not because he stopped growing.

Alexstraza, to Anduin's shock and awe, turned to Anduin, "The one who vouches for new Aspect may provide a gift if you wish."

"If not, he isss a fully functional Assspect now. You will not harm him by refusing." Nozdormu added.

Anduin was delighted, he had an idea of something they hadn't provided. "I think I can do something," Anduin said taking Alexstraza's place. "With my gifts, I wish to bestow you with Curiosity, Mercy, and Trust. May you forever know that your friends are true to you and share your excitement for life's new adventures." Wrathion smiled and bowed his head to meet Anduins outstretched hand. 

"Thank you." Wrathion whispered in Common.

"I am just happy I can give something valuable."

"You have given more than enough." 

"Wrathion!" Alexstraza announced from her pedestal, "henceforth you shall be known as Wrathion the Earth Warder. May you always respect Azeroth for all the beauties it has to offer." She smiled at him, "welcome to the Aspects."


	9. Ascension

"Welcome to the Aspects." Alexstraza purred. Before Wrathion could respond, Wrathion's vision went black.

_"Anduin." The white-and-gray wolfman that had accompanied King Wrynn to the Tavern in the Mists addressed a slightly older Anduin, just a handful of years from his present form. "We need to talk."_

_"Sure Genn. What is it you need?" Anduin looked up from where he had been studying a map of an unknown region intently. The white brick walls decorated with blue implied the exchange was taking place in Stormwind Keep. "What happened at Broken Shore?" The prince continued._

_"We were decimated." Genn snarled, "our losses were monstrous."_

_"That... is not what we anticipated. Heavy resistance I take it?" Anduin tilted his head in concern. "Where is my father?"_

_"I... that's what I needed to discuss with you." Genn swallowed and glanced around as if looking for someone else to take this responsibility from him. "King Varian Wrynn... is dead."_

_Anduin stared blankly at Greymane, his jaw tightening. "Excuse me?" His eyes narrowed and his voice was dangerously quiet._

_"He died to protect what was left of the attack force. I only survived because of his sacrifice." Graymane continued._

_Anduin looked at the floor. "There was only supposed to be limited casualties, that's what Wrathion promised us."_

_"Well, maybe Wrathion was wrong!" Genn snapped, deep blue eyes flaring in anger. He took a moment to collect himself, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have shouted. I know you deeply respect the Black dragon but he was wrong about this. Our army was destroyed because of his mistake."_

_Anduin hissed his face contorted as he tried to control his emotions. "This is the Legion's fault, not Wrathion's!" He shouted back._

_"He abandoned you Anduin, whatever thing you had with him is over now!" Genn was clearly not fond of Wrathion and Wrathion supposed that was fair, but he had no intention of leading Varian into a trap. He had no quarrel with the human king and even less so with Anduin._

_Anduin sighed heavily and hid his face behind his hands. "Leave me now Graymane. We'll worry about coronation some other time."_

_Genn went quiet then. Setting a hand on Anduin's shoulder. "I am sorry." He murmured. "I lost someone close to me too today."_

_"This is hard for everyone but I need to process." Anduin requested weakly, Genn hesitated for a second too long, causing Anduin's patience to thin. "Leave!" He demanded. Genn's ears flattened and he backed away and closed to door._

_Now alone, Anduin let out a sob._

Wrathion was jerked back into reality nearly violently. He felt that he was in human form, and laying on the floor of Wyrmrest temple he supposed. He felt a gentle soft pulsing beside him and cracked open an eye to look around.

Anduin crouched beside him, light dancing around his palm, causing the warm pulsing through his body. He looked gravely concerned. Wrathion, remembering his vision flinched away. "I'm sorry." He mumbled even though nothing had happened since his vision had begun. The other Aspects watched him calmly. "He wakes, mortal." Nozdormu said somewhere out of Wrathion's sight. Anduin, reluctantly, left his side. 

"The ascension to an Aspect triggers powerful visions for the new Aspect, it helps guide them where nothing else could," Alexstraza explained. "His vision was deeply emotional it seems."

"What makes you say that?" Wrathion hissed from the floor as he pushed himself up into a sitting position.

"Wrathion! You're okay!" Anduin cheered and threw his arms around Wrathion's neck. "I was so worried I had hurt you by accident." He breathed so only Wrathion could hear his confession. Wrathion flushed a little, butterflies erupting in his belly from the simple act of being this close to Anduin. To feel his cold arms against the skin of Wrathion's neck. He nuzzled warmly into Anduin, grateful that his vision could still be prevented. 

"I'm sorry," Wrathion said again. His gut-wrenching with the pain of knowing he had caused Anduin so much distress. Even if it was far in the future. "I'm so sorry."

Anduin chuckled, much to Wrathion's surprise, "So long as you're okay, no hard feelings!" He said with such a childlike excitement Wrathion couldn't help but smile back at the young human. He felt better, the butterflies still gnawing at his stomach but the dread seemed to evaporate. Wrathion wanted to lean in and... he wasn't really sure what, he had no words for it. Dragons rarely expressed affections through words or small actions. Between dragons, such emotions were usually communicated through pheromones, large deeds or favors.

Anduin seemed to understand though, "Later." He promised, "when we don't have gods staring at us." Wrathion grinned at him, something about Anduin's acknowledgment of Wrathion's feelings and requited them was a pleasant feeling. One that warmed his whole chest and fuzzed away his thoughts, and the sting of the vision. 

Once Wrathion took his place again, the meeting continued and while Wrathion stopped paying attention to the others at some point, he got a chance to plan what he would do now that he was an Aspect.

Well, for one thing, he was going to pick out a lair for himself and connect the Wyrmrest portal to it. That would be way better than living inside a volcano, he hated that place. After that, he wasn't really sure. He hadn't thought Alexstraza would say yes to his proposal in the first place so he hadn't gotten his hopes up. Maybe he would check in with Magni. 

Magni was the literal champion of Azeroth, he had been a nomral the king Ironforge before he had become diamond to protect all of the world for the rest of eternity. As Earth Warder Wrathion and Magni needed to get along at least well enough to get their jobs done.

The meeting ended before he could plot anything else. He went to walk out and let Anduin climb on outside but Kalecgos beat him and padded beside him. "Wrathion? May I have a moment?" The Spell Weaver asked.

"After everything you've done for me today, you may have as many as you need," Wrathion replied, stopping to speak with the Blue dragon. Anduin paused beside Wrathion and waited patiently.

"Forgive me for the intrusion," Kalecgos began. "I have been studying the growth cycles of dragons, more specifically, black dragons and I noticed you seemed... uncomfortable in your own scales. This leads me to believe that you have developed significantly since we last met in a very short amount of time."

"Okay..." Wrathion tilted his head at Kalecgos. 

"I believe that because of how large Deathwing got, both physically and how far spread his name was, dragons grow based on what feelings they stir inside the hearts of others."

"What do you mean?" Wrathion blinked slowly at the older dragon.

"I mean, that because everyone ever feared Deathwing, he became massive as he fed off of that. However, the rest of us Aspects are not as widely known by the mortal population and a majority of our body size is because of our respect for each other. Recently, you came in contact with a group of humans that feel very strongly about you, and then you received the respect of the other Aspects making you multiply in size today."

Wrathion nodded, "Makes more sense than the gold theory anyways." Wrathion replied, "why are you telling me this?"

"Well, as with mortals going through adolescence, it helps to know why your body is reacting the way it is."

"Are you telling me I hit puberty?" Wrathion half-joked. Kalecgos seriously could not be implying that, right?

"Well you are grown, it's more of a physical change than a psychological one," Kalecgos replied with a shrug of sorts. "But that's all I wanted to speak with you about. Congratulations on your ascension!"

Wrathion stared after the Blue with a mix of shock and irritation. Weird thing to tell a new aspect. Especially since he was larger then Spell Weaver now, if only just. "Well... that's awkward." Anduin spoke from besides Wrathion.

"Seriously." Wrathion agreed. "Weird dude."

"I think he's trying to be nice but isn't sure what to do with you," Anduin replied, climbing on as Wrathion crouched. "Onwards, noble steed! To The Tavern!" Anduin echoed Wrathion's statement from before. Wrathion rolled his eyes but with a powerful beat of his wings he was airborne and taking off towards home.


	10. Confession

The rest of the evening for Anduin had gone by peacefully. He had spent most of it reading his tome of holy studies on Wrathion's fluffy reading chair on the balcony. The book was a thick leather-bound tome full of spells for Anduin to learn and to start practicing laying in his lap. Little did the instructor who assigned him the work know, Anduin had already mastered most of the techniques enclosed within. The art of using the Light had always come easily to the young human. Nonetheless, Anduin had dutifully spent a few hours studying. 

Wrathion, on the other hand, looked borderline distressed all evening. He had been pacing between the same three rooms for at least an hour, leaning on the banister and staring out into the sunset for less than thirty seconds before he was pacing again. At first, Anduin had taken it for residual excitement from the ceremony earlier that morning but the sun had long since set and Anduin had taken his studying into the room for the night, Wrathion was still wearing footprints into the wooden floor. He had spent as much time as he could in human form.

Anduin tried to stay diligent in his study but now that he rested propped up on an elbow under the warm covers of his bed Wrathion was much more in view and Anduin couldn't help but watch how the dragon moved. His hair was all over the place thanks to how many times Wrathion had run his hand through the black curls. His red eyes were nearly dull with how much raw emotion he had endured during the day. Anduin understood more than Wrathion could ever know. Anduin had always had a knack for understanding the struggles of others. Depending on how strong the emotions were Anduin could focus on that person's words or actions and feel as though he was walking beside them through their emotional journey. A bonus for his priestly duties but not required, and sometimes it bit him in the ass.

When Anduin's mother had died, Anduin had felt the pain twice over, once for his own grief and then again because of his father's pain.

Wrathion's struggle was so intense the emotional waves washed over Anduin without the priest having to focus at all. However, without Anduin's attention all he got was a jumbled mess so distorted that he couldn't even tell what was useful information and what wasn't, though he suspected Wrathion was equally as lost in a sea of incoherent thoughts. "Wrathion." Anduin said finally, setting his tome on the trunk at the foot of the bed, "come here."

"Can't. Sit. Still." Wrathion bit out like words were hard for him.

"I know, but I can help," Anduin assured him. Wrathion looked strangely at the priest but willed himself over to the side of Anduin's bed. "Sit down." Anduin gestured to a spot beside him, "and face me." Wrathion followed instructions and gazed at Anduin with an expression Anduin couldn't quite place. Something akin to hunger was the closest he could get to describing it.

"What makes you think you can help me?" Wrathion asked almost desperately.

"Priests are known to bring peace to those who have been through unimaginable strife. I am trained to help alleviate what ails you." Anduin replied, his voice soft. "Just relax, and tell me anything that comes to mind."

Wrathion grunted as though he was better than ranting but quickly fell to it anyways. "I don't expect you to believe me but I have always wanted to take my father's place as Earth Warder but now that I have it... quite frankly, I'm scared out of my wits." 

"What are you scared of?"

"Becoming my father. I literally have the weight of the whole world on my shoulders and I'm afraid I'm going to be what everyone thinks I will become."

Anduin smiled at his friend, "Not everyone believes that of you. I would not have vouched for you had I thought that to be your path." Wrathion gave Anduin a rather vulnerable expression in reply. One Anduin had not thought Wrathion capable of. He always seemed so calm and apathetic about everything.

Wrathion swallowed thickly, "no one ever has before." He whispered. "Thank you for giving me a chance."

"The fact you are worrying about not becoming Deathwing proves already that you are better than him."

"I suppose." Wrathion yawned and shook himself back into his standard poker face. "But I have more immediate problems I guess. The world is not in any immediate danger, I'll know when it is. My other concern is more of a question than a problem."

"Shoot."

"Well, you mortal types seem to be obsessed about choosing gay or straight but why do I have to pick? Why can't I like both?"

Anduin understood that one, more than just his empathy he understood. "I'm with you. My father and Genn Graymane are obsessed with trying to find me a woman. They're perfectly nice, mind you, they just don't strike my fancy. Genn and my father keeps telling me we just haven't found 'the one' but I'm beginning to doubt I will. I just don't really notice them the way they seem to think I do."

"See that's the problem with being royalty, you're parents not only control everything but their shadow hangs over you forever no matter what you do!"

"Unless your name is Arthas." Anduin chided.

Arthas Menethil used to be a human paladin, and heir to the Lordaeron throne, another human kingdom. Until the young paladin began to take a dark path. Once beloved by his kingdom Arthas, upon discovering of a plague outbreak in a city known as Stratholme, decided that the best course of action would be to slay all the inhabitants of the city to prevent the spread of the plague. He had later gone on to become the Lich King. Leader of the undead armies collectively called the Scourge. His father had all but been forgotten in the horrific wake of death in his son's actions. Though Arthas had been put down when Anduin was still relatively young.

"He doesn't count!" Wrathion responded playfully. "He only outmatched his father because of a mass genocide! Neither of us is going down that route I hope."

Anduin smiled and pawed at his friend's black jacket. "I think you'd better keep an eye on me!" Anduin announced.

"You aren't going to-"

"I'm a known heartbreaker!" Anduin interrupted Wrathion's thought, stretching out his good leg and setting his heel on Wrathion's shoulder.

Wrathion stared at him, eyes widening, and Anduin could tell the dragon was silently drinking in the curves of the priest's calf and thigh, but he attempted to keep up the guise of false bravado.

"Don't lie! You can't even walk up to anybody without getting nervous!" Wrathion retorted, weakly moving to shove Anduin's leg off his shoulder. A slight trembling to his hands, his usually composed face is now a bright shade of red. 

Anduin smirked, pouncing lightly on the lithe male. Amused when his stomach brushed up against something on Wrathion's hip. _He does have... and I'm turning him on!?_ That thought went straight to his head, the one with the brain, and he grinned. "Yeah well, you talk a big game for someone who can't get another in bed with him!"

"Not true!" Wrathion's grubt sounded suspiciously like a groan as his body slide against Anduin by accident. The dragon slipped out of Anduin's grip and wrestled the taller man into the mattress with surprising strength. Especially given how deliberate he had been so as not to hurt his play mate's bad leg.

Anduin wondered if Wrathion had ever had someone to do something as childish as play fight or to spend all night talking about whatever came to mind.

The soft gaze from the dragon implied no. Though Anduin hadn't really had that either, he had his dad but it was different to have a friend or sibling to share passions with on a level adults had a hard time understanding. "Oh? Now I'm curious, who have you ever taken to bed?" Anduin said finally.

"You." Wrathion puffed his chest proudly.

Anduin flushed a bright red at that. "Not the same!" Anduin hissed avoiding the dragon's eyes.

"For now." Wrathion purred, Anduin rolled his eyes but internally scolded himself for being so transparent about how he felt about Wrathion. Despite Wrathion being another man, a black dragon, kin of Onyxia who had delighted in emotionally tormenting Anduin and Varian, and Wrathion being on par with a god, Anduin was beginning to foster something of a crush on the Black Prince. 

Despite Wrathion's flirting Anduin couldn't gauge how the dragon actually felt about him in return. The pair stared at one another for a nearly awkwardly long time. "May I do something totally insane?"

Wrathion tilted his head in confusion. "Sure." He agreed. "I do believe you told me you had something for me when away from prying eyes."

Anduin grinned from ear to ear than. "Yes, I do." He leaned forward, much the same way that Wrathion had earlier and pressed their lips together.

Wrathion took a second to process what was happening but quickly began to follow Anduin's lead. As Wrathion returned the kiss, Anduin, despite his concerns about how quickly he had developed such strong feelings in such a short amount of time, forgot all of the things that were going on outside of the room or all the things he had to worry about. In that long moment, everything felt right with the world. Wrathion quickly grew impatient with the gentle nature of the exchange and began to experiment with his limits. Pressing down on Anduin just enough to get the human to lay back and allow Wrathion to loom over him like a predator about to deal the killing blow to prey.

But no pain came, instead, only more kisses and hushed laughs as the pair tried to figure out what they were trying to do. Wrathion's breathing and adjusting causing their bodies to press together, just enough to excite Anduin from how new and different everything was. Every nerve he had was on fire and they were still fully clothed and not even doing anything that Anduin could get in trouble for. Sure he wasn't _encouraged_ to go around kissing boys but he had no strict rule forbidding it. Anything farther than that though, if he was found out, while not likely still very possible Anduin let something slip he wasn't supposed to, his dad would be furious. 

Either way, they had no real idea of what they were doing and thus wouldn't get very far short of one having something in mind to try.

It mattered not though because the door creaked open, causing Wrathion to roll away from Anduin, attempting to catch his breath before the intruder could see anything. "Will you two go to sleep?!" Left hissed from the doorway, "settle your differences tomorrow!" The door closed surprisingly softly after that leaving Wrathion and Anduin in the dark again.

"Well, I suppose that means we should split up for the night." Wrathion mused darkly.

"Aw, we don't have to! You can stay over here if you want." Anduin complained, trying to be quiet so as not to incur Left's wrath.

"I'll bother you all night," Wrathion replied going to stand up.

"No, you won't. Trust me." Anduin pawed sleepily at the dragon who sighed and took a seat on the unoccupied side of the bed. 

"Don't say I didn't warn you." With that Wrathion settled down into settled down into the covers, "and thanks, for vouching for me today. That means a lot more than you realize." Before Anduin could even react, Wrathion was snoring away. Anduin laughed to himself at how quickly Wrathion had dozed off, it had been a really long day for him it seemed. Anduin rolled over and closed his eyes allowing sleep to claim him.


	11. Nozdormu

Wrathion had no idea what to do now. Not only had Anduin confirmed that he shared Wrathion's affections for the other, but he had also taken the first move. As odd as he found the experience Wrathion had liked the intimacy and closeness with the human.

Which posed a number of problems because Wrathion was a _dragon_ , not a mortal.

Not wanting to leave his questions unanswered and his wants swept under the rug he hefted himself up from Anduin's side before the sun rose the next morning and took off from the balcony, shifting into his true form during the jump and flapped powerful wings in an attempt to gain some height. He was still getting used to how large he had gotten. Well, the night before with the "boat" that sailed into his "harbor" had been surprising as well to say the least. 

He was so focused on his thoughts and laughing at his stupid innuendos that he ran face first into an actual boat. Only the mast was damaged thankfully but he still got chewed out by his sailors.

Before he got far from the tavern he noticed a small group of black shadows moving across the dry plains at the base of the mountains. Deciding to see if breakfast had come to him Wrathion swooped down to get a closer look.

To his surprise, he found an Alliance war party. Quickly shaking his head to clear his mind. He noticed royal guards escorting the King himself to the base of the mountain. All of the human's eyes were on Wrathion as he descended to the ground in front of the party. "King Wrynn." Wrathion greeted, not feeling any need to bow before a mortal king.

Varian apparently felt the same about a dragon. "Greetings." Varian nodded politely at the dragon. "Forgive me for the intrusion, but I wished to do my first weekly report with Anduin in person."

_It has not been a week._

Instead of commenting on this, Wrathion nodded, "Very well, though I request you forgive me for not being a very good host, I was just going to collect a meal before fetching Anduin and taking him with me to a meeting I must attend." Wrathion lied easily, he had been planning on going alone to this 'meeting' but this worked well as an excuse not to bring Anduin. "Though because of your visit I will entrust his safety with you and grant you some privacy." Wrathion continued. "Once you arrive at the tavern speak to the human woman with red hair, she will help you rouse the prince and ensure additional safety should you need it."

"Thank you." Varian nodded, listening intently. "When will you return?"

"No later than sundown." Wrathion estimated. Even if he wasn't finished with his mission by then he could make a pit stop for the night and continue his task in the morning.

"Very well. I will expect to see you then." With that Wrathion pushed off the earth again and floated above the human patrol who gazed up at him in awe, save Varian, as they passed under him. Many of the guards were young Wrathion noted, hardly older than Anduin so he supposed none had seen a true dragon before. Though he did notice wolfman and a man with short red hair besides Varian who only spared Wrathion the cautious glance. Once they had passed Wrathion beat his wings and went soaring across the land. He did manage to snatch a wild oxen herd for breakfast before he began his flight to Southern Kalimdor.

***

Wrathion, now that he was big enough to fly long distances in a timely and safe manner, found it silly to take the boats if he was going alone, despite the near-instant translocation the ships provided, it was infinitely more rewarding, and only a slight bit longer, to fly. Plus he got to fill up on fish as he went.

It was maybe an hour before he felt the heat of Kalimdor wash over his scales. It took only a moment more before he saw the small huddle of mountains the marked the home of the Bronze Dragonflight. He landed in the center of a ruined clearing. Clock towers lay scattered half-buried in the sand in the small mesa that was hidden in the center of the mountains. Which in no way gave away their depth.

"Halt!" A voice called from beside Wrathion. Begrudgingly, he followed instructions, he knew his flight had a reputation for destruction so to stop a black dragon was not totally uncalled for. That and most dragons of separate flights were questioned before being granted entry, for safety's sake. A smaller Bronze Drake glided over to the intruder calmly. She looked younger than Wrathion in body but her eyes revealed her age was well beyond that. "What brings you to the Caverns of Time?" The Drake asked.

"I am to speak with Nozdormu." Wrathion replied evenly.

"Is he expecting you?"

"I don't believe Aspects have to book appointments with one another." Wrathion retorted. He did like being able to fall back on that to help him appear more confident than he was. 

The drake blinked at him a few times. "Very well. You'll find him in the heart of the mountain." With a single beat of her wings she was out of his way, returning to circle her route above the mesa.

"Thank you." Wrathion grunted and glided through the narrow archway into the Caverns. The descent went down for miles and was heavily decorated with stars and otherworldly things. Finally rounding the corner from one of the main twisting tunnels Wrathion flew into a clearing. This one had hallways branching off it at random intervals. In it's center was a huge circular platform with a massive working golden hourglass centered on it. Sitting in front of the hourglass was the huge bronze Aspect. He sat, making him nearly as tall as the hourglass which reached the roof of the cavern many miles up from the floor. Had he been standing on two paws the Aspect would be large enough to burst through the roof of this chamber and into the mountain itself. With Dragons generally about halfing their height when they moved from sitting to four paws and doubling their height moving from sitting to standing on two paws.

Golden eyes flicked up to the newcomer as soon as Wrathion entered. "Wrathion." Nozdormu tilted his head at the young Aspect. "What brings you to the Cavernsss of Time ssso sssoon?"

"I seek an auidence with you if you have some time."

"Time isss a mortal concept." Nozdormu replied. "Ssso long as I draw breath, I will have time."

Wrathion took a second to process his words. "I see." Wrathion eyed the other bronze dragons around the room. "Is there anywhere we can go that will be more private? It is not a conversation I wish to have in front of strangers."

The Bronze Aspect nodded, and the world went golden for a second before they were in a completely empty version of the Cavern. Nozdormu stretched his wings idely. "I do not sssense a dire disturbance with the mortals for another ssseveral ssseasons. What bothers you so?"

"I wanted to ask you to glimpse into the future for me."

"While I understand what you are asking of me, what isss it you ssseek?"

"I want to pursue a relationship with a mortal and I need you're advice on how to get the best probable outcome."

Nozdormu stared at Wrathion for a while. "Well, you know as well as I do what you will have to do to thisss 'mortal'. You will be responsible, at least in hisss mind, for the death of hisss father." 

"Is there any way I can avoid that?"

"Not that I can sssee." Nozdormu replied gently, his voice dropping in volume. "I know thisss is going to be hard for you to accept but I advise you to leave the idea of a mortal consort behind."

"Why?"

"Mortalsss do not have the lifespan we do. They will die a thousand timesss over before we even begin to feel age. They cannot escape time."

"Time is a mortal tracking device!" Wrathion echoed. 

"But it isss one that will claim you're friend in what, to you, is a blink of an eye." Nozdormu growled, with no malice in his voice, he was just trying to get through to Wrathion. "He will die before you can truly begin to love him."


	12. Kalecgos

Wrathion left the Caverns of Time more uneasy than he had arrived. Nozdormu spoke sense of course but surely there had to be a way for it to work for everyone?

_Who can I ask for such a specific question?_ He growled to himself, flying in a random direction to try and get the wind to soothe him and cool his head.

It wasn't until Wrathion felt the stinging cold of Winterspring that the dragon realized exactly who he needed to speak to. Kalecgos was very much in a romantic relationship with a human named Jaina Proudmoore, who in turn was also a powerful spell caster.

With a newfound determination Wrathion flew to the continent of Northrend reaching the Nexus. Soaring down to the entrance to The Eye of Eternity within the hour. Again he was stopped at the entrance but this time by a huge male, one Wrathion recognized from the Accord the day before. This one had been one of Kalecgos' companions the day before. Senegos was his name, Wrathion believed. "State your business. Kalecgos did not elaborate on the reason for your visit." The dragon ordered sleepily.

"I wish to speak to the Spell-Weaver."

"He is expecting you in the Eye of Eternity." The great leviathan replied, wandering away.

Once Wrathion arrived at a tiny blue orb in the center of a floating circular platform he placed his paw on it and blinked. Opening his eyes into space void of anything but stars and a blue and white platform under him. Kalecgos stood before him as well. "Wrathion." The greeting was friendly. "I figured you'd have some questions."

"Not about what you'd expect." Wrathion replied.

"You would be surprised what I expected you to come to me about." Kalecgos smiled toothily at him. The dragon beckoned him forward, pushing off the ledge and gliding off into space.  
Wrathion followed, despite his uncertainty about Kalecgos, which was mostly due to their last conversation, it felt good to soar through space. It was endless, the air was crisp and cool and he began to see that stars in the sky were networks of platforms and studios. Some proved to be lairs as the pair flew past and others still were full of tomes, ink and parchment. "I'll race you to the farthest platform over there." Wrathion challenged the older dragon. Among creatures so magnificent as Wyrms and even as primitive as Proto-Drakes, racing was a fun competition that the extremes of either species could take part in just as easily as anyone else.

"You challenge me in my own realm?" Kalecgos laughed. "Good luck!" Wrathion beat his wings with intent now that Kalecgos had accepted his challenge and set off towards the platform. He could hear Kalecgos catching up behind him and pushed harder.

Just as Wrathion made it to the platform the other blue dragon swept forward and touched down first. "That's cheating!" Wrathion growled, amused that Kalecgos would have lost had it not been for his familiarity with the area.

"No it's not!" The Blue replied, "it would have been cheating had I froze you!"

Wrathion smiled. "True enough I suppose."

The pair set off again and flew in silence for a long while. "You have questions regarding your mortal companion. What is it you wish to know?" Kalecgos rumbled, breaking the silence finally.

Wrathion was surprised at Kalecgos' foresight. He explained to the Blue the situation he had with Anduin and while he was sure Kalecgos knew most of it already, judging by his knowledge of Wrathion's mission, Kalecgos listened to him. "Nozdormu told me that because mortals age much faster than dragons, that it wasn't worth investing time and effort into."

"Well, on some level, he's right. But because of how short-lived they are, mortals love much more fiercely than say another dragon." Kalecgos said. "And besides, many mortals can live past their average amount of years thanks to advancements in magic and technology. Archmage Khadgar is thought to be over a thousand years old. So it is not to say they are doomed to die young. High Prophet Velen was fully grown when the Burning Legion attacked Argus and still lives thousands of years later to tell about it.

"Be Velen is a Draenei; they can live for a quarter of a millennium." Wrathion pointed out.

"But more importantly, he's a priest and he takes care of himself and those around him." Kalecgos said, "some Draenei waste away before they reach 100 because of negligence, much the way humans do."

"What does Anduin being a priest have to do with it?"  
"Priests can bring even the old and sickly back into their stronger days, and extremely powerful ones can undo the damage done by time if the need arises."  
"You think Anduin is that powerful?"

"I think he has the potential to be." Kalecgos thought for a moment before he spoke again, "and if you are getting into it and are worried about it, I do know of something that can help perhaps."

"What is it?"

"If a time comes when you are ready to be Anduin's mate then I shall tell you."

Wrathion shot a glance at Kalecgos. "Mate?"

"Humans, in particular, tend to be fond of monogamy. They do not like to share their prizes." Kalecgos explained. "Anduin, if he is invested in this as well, is in it for a mate and partner, not someone he loves to sleep around as he pleases."

"We can't even reproduce! What do you mean mate?" Wrathion tried to keep the barb out of his voice but he wasn't sure what Kalec was getting at.

"Humans generally share their lives with their partner, unlike us who have a harem of consorts, they tend to stay with their partners whether they can reproduce together or not." Wrathion turned this information over in his head a few times. "Besides, humans and dragons both are incredibly sexual creatures, whether or not you can bear offspring is irrelevant. The act of mating is something that is likely to happen."

"Wait-how...?" Wrathion was struggling to picture that. "We don't have... I'm a dragon and-"

"You would need to stay in human form but yes, it could work." Wrathion still must have looked as confused as he felt because Kalecgos continued, "Do you know how humans reproduce?"

"They-" Wrathion scoured his brain. He had never really thought to care about information such as mortal mating rituals before. "The same thing we do, just on a smaller scale?"

Kalecgos shrugged. "Sort of. But they don't do eggs. Now think about how that happens and try and figure out how that would work between two males."

Wrathion had an image rush into his mind. One that shocked him nearly out of the air. Anduin was- "Sounds really painful." Wrathion grunted trying to hide the weird mesh of emotions the image stirred up in him.

"Humans are more clever than you give them credit for." Kalecgos replied lightly.

"But you just told me I'm barely getting to be an adult in size, what if-how does that work? I can't go telling people the prince is sleeping with a dragon whelp."

"No, of course not." Kalecgos agreed. "But age in years is a mortal tracking device. Dragons age in maturity and size instead. You were an adult long before yesterday and now your size reflects that."

"I see." Wrathion hummed to himself. "So... you're with a human, right?"

"I've been with humans for a very long time, yes." Kalecgos replied.

"Do you think it's a waste of time?" Wrathion asked, the question hounding at him since Nozdormu.

"Not at all." Kalecgos said firmly. "Being with a human forces you to live. Humans spend every day doing things that matter most to them because they don't have the time that we have to sleep for millennia. Every moment matters to them and that's important to remember when dealing with them, even non-romantically. But the important question to ask yourself is, do _you_ think it's a waste of time?"


	13. Return of the King

"Your father wishes to speak with you." Right said, forcing Anduin to lift his head sleepily to acknowledge Right's prodding.

"Uh, okay." Anduin slurred, "I'll be down in a minute." _What in the world is dad doing here?_ After shooing Right away for some privacy, he collected himself, and changed into a more presentable clothing choice. Now awake, Anduin knew he had been ditched, not only because of the emptiness in his room but the fact that Right had woken him implied Wrathion had found better things to do.

The thought of which hurt Anduin's feelings he had to admit. He had thought that maybe, just maybe, Wrathion and Anduin could have been a thing, found hope and comfort and friendship and happiness with each other.

He was wrong it seemed.

Anduin staggered down the steps and, while he shouldn't have been, was surprised at Varian's presence at the table in the center of the ground floor. "Hey, Dad." Anduin greeted cheerfully, hiding his other concerns behind a smile.

"Anduin," Varian replied, and while his tone was friendly, he was not prone to showing his affections the way Anduin was, but he tried his best. "Come have a seat, tell me how the last days have been."

Anduin sat at the table across from his father. "I've had a lot of fun!" Anduin began without thinking. "We got to go to the Wyrmrest Accord and Wrathion became a full Aspect! It was amazing!"

Varian blinked a few times. "Wrathion is now the Earth Warder?" He sounded like he didn't believe it.

"Yes." Anduin nodded, choosing to leave out his own part in the meeting. He went on for a long time about all his recent adventures, save the ones he knew better than to tell until the sun began to set behind the mountains. Anduin was known to be a bit wordy during his stories.

"I'm glad you've been having fun, but listen, we have to go home now, I can't trust the kin of Onyxia with my son. You know how much you mean to me."

Anduin grimaced at that, he shouldn't have been reluctant to leave the Tavern given Wrathion's seeming abandonment, but he was. "Dad, you already agreed to this with him. I know you're worried, but I'll be fine. I've cheered up a lot since I got out here. Velen was right."

"Yes but-"

"Dad, I'm only going to get worse if I come home now. I love you, I promise I do but I need some time to come into myself."

Varian sighed and looked at the ground. "I know things have been tough since your mother passed, but-"

"It's gotten worse lately dad, you know how paranoid I was getting before we set this up and honestly I had good reason to be. if Garrosh finds me, I'm dead. There are no more chances, no more taking prisoners with him. He's going to kill me if he gets the chance. Let me stay up here until this calms down and Garrosh is dealt with, then I can come home with you."

"What are we talking about?" A thundering voice rattled the building and Wrathion, in human form, dropped neatly from the sky and landed on the doorstep. Without a word, or even really a glance at Anduin, despite the priest's eyes being glued to him as he strode in the room with more confidence than Anduin had seen from him. The dragon came and sat beside the prince at the table.

"So kind of you to join us." Varian deadpanned. "How did your meeting go?"

_Meeting? What meeting?_

"About the same as all meetings go," Wrathion replied, "has Anduin shown you Jihui? Great game, tells you a lot about your opponent."

"Really? Do you play poker?" Varian asked, a playful glint in his eyes.

"You don't want to challenge a dragon to poker, you can never read them." Anduin smiled.

"Well true, but yes. I play." Wrathion agreed. "Right, would you get me my cards please?" Right handed him the deck of leather-bound cards with gems woven in that served as the number or pattern for the card. "Do either of your friends play?" Wrathion signaled to Genn Graymane outside the tavern.

"Genn does, yes." Varian answered good-natured, "Shaw cheats."

"Can I play?" Anduin asked sheepishly, he had of course seen the adults play the game but had never previously old enough, or driven enough, to play with them, but if Wrathion was going to, maybe the dragon would spare Anduin a glance then.

"Sure." Both men said.

"Genn! Come play cards with us!" Varian called out to the Worgen who happily joined the others at the table.

Much to Anduin's surprise as he set his hands on either side of him on the bench, just before the game started, Wrathion's unoccupied hand curled around Anduin's hidden under the table.

They shared a long glance, Wrathion smiled at him causing Anduin to flush a red color.

Even Genn cracked a smile during that game.

An hour or so passed and the royal guard was planning to head out. Anduin with them as he had not heard that Varian sided with Anduin. The priest highly doubted that Varian would change his mind. "See you later?" Anduin asked Wrathion quietly at the top of the stairs, wanting to have Wrathion acknowledge him before he began to pack his stuff.

"Absolutely," Wrathion replied, a swift kiss was shared, much to Anduin's surprise before Wrathion vacated the space to allow his guests to move about.

Varian came up the stairs behind Anduin, startling him, he didn't think his father had seen anything but wasn't sure. "Anduin. I thought about what you said." Varian began, "and I think I will permit you to stay longer."

Anduin felt his eyes light up. "Really?!"

Varian smiled and nodded, "Yes. You are the happiest I've seen you since your mother died and... I think we finally found someone you'd be interested in taking as a suitor. Albeit that will be a ways in the future and some negotiations to be had but you remind me of myself when I was young and first starting to fall in love with your mother." Varian lost himself to thought for a moment. "You will have to return home at some point, but I will allow you to stay until Garrosh is dealt with. If you need to come home sooner you need only say so."

Anduin was delighted, "thank you so much, dad!" He didn't even mind that Varian had implied Wrathion and Anduin might be married someday. For now all that mattered was that his father had agreed to let him stay. "You won't regret it!"

"I know I won't," Varian replied, smiling, before turning to Wrathion, who had faded into a dark corner, save his glowing red eyes which gave him away. "Thank you, for your hospitality young Wrathion, we will be speaking again soon I think."  
With that, Varian and his troops were gone, leaving Wrathion and Anduin alone at the top of the stairs.


	14. Scars

It was a great relief when Anduin was finally free of his father's shadow again. Especially since he had been spared having to end his budding relationship with Wrathion. The dragon in question was preparing for a night's rest and was back to ignoring Anduin's existence. "What the hell is your problem?" Anduin asked after a hour of not even an emotion wave from the dragon, the priest couldn't sense anything the dragon was feeling no matter how much he focused.

"What do you mean problem?" Wrathion seemed amazingly deadpan.

"You go from making out with me to ditching me for something more important to holding hands and kisses goodbye and back to ignoring me. What is your problem?!" Anduin snapped, exasperated.

"Do I have to shower you constantly in affection for it to be clear of my feelings?" Wrathion rolled onto his side from where he had been laying and staring up at the ceiling on his bed.

"Well some acknowledgment would be nice." Anduin growled, rolling so he didn't face Wrathion and ignoring the warmth that undoubtedly appeared at his side. Wrathion could not handle not being looked at. 

"Do you want to know why I 'ditched' you this morning?" Wrathion asked his voice soft.

"It better be good." Anduin grumbled.

"I'm... not sure what to do with you, I mean, if you feel the way I think you feel than I don't want to do something and mess it up when I didn't even know what I had done wrong. So I asked the other Aspects for some help."

Anduin tried to skulk despite how his chest warmed from Wrathion's attempt to do right by him. "What do the other Aspects know about this?"

"i spoke to Kalecgos in particular, he has been romantically involved with humans for a long time. He knows them better than any other dragon." 

Anduin, reluctantly, turned onto his back and stared at the ceiling. "And what did o' mighty Kalecgos have to say?"

"He told me that humans love fiercely and stay with their partners for life generally." Wrathion began seeming entranced by just gazing at Anduin, "they have learned to love every second they have and can appreciate the beauty in everything around them. Humans are also stubborn and will stand firmly in defense of what they believe to be right."

Anduin rolled to face Wrathion finally. Meeting the red eyes that were bracketed by black curls "Did he say anything about me?"

Wrathion made a purr in the back of his throat. "He thinks that you are a perfect example of your kind. You're sweet, dedicated, determined, patient, and optimistic."

Anduin huffed and made a show of rolling his eyes, "Kalecgos did not say that! You just don't want to tell me how you feel. Not directly anyway."

Wrathion gave Anduin a lazy grin. "Well maybe you're right, I can talk a big game and don't have clue what to do now that I've gotten your attention."

"Idiot." Anduin sighed gently reaching up and drawing a thumb over one of the shadows beneath Wrathion's eyes. "Is this going to be a thing or do I need to kick you out back to your own bed?" Anduin asked his breathing catching in his chest as Wrathion looked him over carefully. "I will expect you to at least acknowledge me when I'm around just the way I acknowledge you."

"I should ask for forgiveness ahead of time for I am... not as artfully skilled in human relationships as I am in most things," Wrathion rumbled letting his eyes fall shut under Anduin's touch. "But I would very much like to try. To be with you I mean."

A surge of ecstasy overloaded Anduin's senses at the admission. He leaned forward and kissed Wrathion, gently at first but when Wrathion did not speed things up the way he had previously Anduin got impatient and pushed Wrathion onto his back and followed, straddling either side of Wrathion like one would ride a horse, mindful of the leg, well, it sounded weirder in Anduin's head than it really was.

Wrathion responded instantly to the gentle kisses and then became more fierce and aggressive after that. "Wrathion." Anduin wasn't even sure what to say or what he was trying to say. His excitement pooled in his stomach and tightened around his insides almost painfully. What was it about Wrathion that stirred such emotions inside Anduin? 

Anduin smiled and claimed the black-haired man's lips again. He pawed lazily at the black jacket that Wrathion wore and began to pull it away. 

Maybe it was because Anduin couldn't see very well at all except for the glow of Wrathion's eyes that made it feel a bit better to be doing this with him. No one else being able to see anything, if they could somehow get in through the door Anduin had specifically locked when he and Wrathion had retired for the evening. No Right or Left getting on to them again. Just the two of them together.

Anduin felt no shame for what he was doing. His father had already voiced his approval and the Light had no qualms about letting one do what they wanted. The only real rule being it wasn't allowed to hurt someone and he didn't think he could hurt or force Wrathion to do anything at all. Not that he wanted to do either.

Still the gentle glow was enough to see the new expanse of skin available to him.

For Anduin having been worried about the remains of his own injuries Wrathion hadn't said a thing about the massive array of angry scars of all colors. All were well cared for but were discolored only because of the nature of the attack. Some blue wounds came from what Anduin could only assume was a breath weapon of another dragon. Many of the horribly discolored wounds were definitely breath weapon in origin

Most though were angry red welts ripped into his flesh from teeth and claws indicating many battles fought even though his dragon form was just yesterday big enough to fight properly.

Anduin knew more than anyone what it was like to be forced to fight too young. Anduin himself had been very little when first taught how to defend himself, though he loathed having any type of disagreement, petty ones in particular. If he needed to fight he was going to face the problem, not hide from it. "Wrathion-" Wrathion hummed his acknowledgment, pushing some hair out of Anduin's face. "Do they hurt you still?" Anduin asked ignoring the finger tugging at the hem of Anduin's shirt, it wasn't about him anymore.

"Sometimes. Mostly the elemental attacks but-"

"May I try to mend them?" Anduin interrupted. 

"I've had the best priests, paladins, shamans, and druids in the world-"

"I think I can heal it." Anduin held his ground.

Wrathion stared at Anduin for a long time before he lay back onto the bed, "very well. You can try."

Anduin nodded slowly. He called the light to him and began to channel it, closing his eyes and allowing his soul itself to flow into the light. These wounds festered long past their delivery because of the hate and fear attached to them. Or that's what Anduin suspected. It's why Anduin's own had not healed much at all since the day there were dealt. No healer could mend them unless they were personally attached to the patient. Many priests refused to see their close friends and families for safety's sake. But if Anduin could help Wrathion he was going to try. The light grew brighter as he began to surge all his thoughts and memories into the spell. He needn't open to eyes to know the light was glaring, for it seeped under his eyelids but he opened them anyways and shrank the spell so it fits into the palm of his hand as a small disc.

He guided the bright disc to Wrathion's chest and already the skin touched by the light was mending, the true color returning, the marks receding and closing. Soon the scars faded into small white lines that would vanish on their own. With a smug grin, Anduin glanced up to where Wrathion was staring at him perplexed. "How did you-"

Anduin, not wanting to answer the question and be asked why he didn't fix his own, both because he knew he couldn't do that and because it was something of a mood killer, replied. "Tricks of the trade." Instead pressing their lips together again. 

Wrathion sighed into the kiss and ran his fingers through Anduin's hair, gently clutching at fistfuls of it. "Titans..." he breathed. There was a long pause where they gazed at one another intently. "That's amazing," Wrathion said finally. "Healing the uncurable." There was yet another bout of frantic kissing before a huge wave of exhaustion hit Anduin like the bell. Just much less painful, and more disappointing. The spell had drained Anduin of every scrap of energy he had and he was going to fall asleep on top of Wrathion if he didn't stop this soon. As much as he would like to continue his body would not allow it for the life of him. 

"Wrathion... we should stop now." Anduin murmured once they separated again. Wrathion tilted his head at Anduin clearly worried, confused, and maybe a tad hurt. "Its nothing with you I'm just... drained because of that spell."

Wrathion seemed to understand then, his arms dropping from Anduin's back to either side of him on the bed, and Anduin was able to roll onto the bed beside the dragon. Wrathion rolled in the opposite direction to presumably close his eyes and sleep.

Anduin took this opportunity to wrap his arms around Wrathion and hold the dragon close.


	15. Meditation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know if I was misinformed about the bell story because I really had a hard time understaning anything that my research found.

Wrathion awoke to warm, comforting pulses periodically surging over his body. It was a strange feeling to be awoken with, especially given that even without opening his eyes, Anduin was not beside him or in touching distance to be the source. Strange as it was it brought no harm or panic, instead it urged curiosity, unconditional love, respect and kindness. Wrathion even found himself basking in it for longer than he needed to. Slowly he cracked open an eye and found he had been correct in his assumption of being alone in the bed, despite it still being dark outside, but he was not so in the room. 

Anduin sat hovering off the floor a few inches, legs folded across one another and a stunning golden light surrounding him, sending out waves of pleasant things to the world.

"Anduin?" Wrathion grunted as he propped himself up into a sitting position.

"I'm meditating." A voice oddly angelic, even for Anduin replied, "please, don't mind me." Then the voice quieted, leaving the priest in the colum of white and gold, suspended in the air in a trance. His blue eyes staring expressionless ahead of him.

Wrathion huffed, he was trying not to be annoyed. Anduin needed time to meditate, Wrathion knew that. Yet the dragon had been so ready to pick up where they had left off before anyone else woke up, mostly to preserve Anduin's precious "modesty". More than that though, Wrathion was bothered because for having just been scolded for not paying enough attention to the human, the priest sure as hell wasn't paying attention to Wrathion right now. The dragon huffed and sulked for a few minutes, trying to tinker together a plan to get Anduin's attention. 

It was a strange feeling, he was used to himself being more calm and composed. Now his stomach was doing flips and his heartbeat was at a nearly unhealthy rate of hard and fast pumps.

For some reason the affection was much stronger today. Sure he had been fond of Anduin previously but the warm thoughts were twisting deeper into his mind it seemed. A much better feeling than some of the things that had whispered to him upon occasion.

Wrathion's father was driven mad by an Old God. Ancient beings that had gifted life with flesh, rather than thoughtless feelingless stone, but sought to destroy and corrupt the whole of Azeroth. Their had been four in total. One was killed by the titans, the god-like beings that had created Azeroth and given the Dragon Aspects their power. This deceased Old God was named Y'shaarj and supposedly what remained of him was buried beneath Pandaria. Thus pulling Wrathion's attention in the first place.

The other old gods included Yogg-Saron, who was, at least in part, responsible for the madness of the Lich King. C'thun who was known for his long and devastating war against mortals. Many creatures as powerful as dragons had lost their lives fighting the Old God in Silithus. A neighboring region to the desert Tanaris, home of the Caverns of Time, the only division between the two deserts was a massive crater that was home to a lush jungle of abundant and varied wildlife.

The last active Old God was N'zoth, who was aptly dubbed 'The Corrupter' it was this Old God, locked away in an ocean prison, that had corrupted the Neltharion. Being so in touch with the world had its perks, but it also meant much closer interactions with such evils. N'zoth had tried, on occasion, to wind his way into Wrathion's mind. To force Wrathion to continue the legacy of his father. Wrathion had prepared for this, and knew how to combat the whispers better than his father. So far, it had worked, but Wrathion still had to guard his mind carefully. N'zoth was as cunning as he was ancient.

What Wrathion was feeling about Anduin was a different force entirely. This one was pure, and light of spirit. It was what drove mortals to the ends of the earth. Well maybe not that strong yet, but it certainly had the potential to be. Before Wrathion got any real planning done the light around Anduin faded and it was replaced with a startling deep but pleasant and familiar chuckle.

"By the Light Wrathion, I can not focus when you're making that face!" Anduin purred, his voice was a bit deeper than previously, but not an angelic or impossible sound. His voice was just more full, more confident. It sounded like the squeak and cracks in his voice had faded and now it was all flowing together, rather than conflicting with itself. He stood taller too, his hands had steadied from their slight but constant tremors. Even his movement and tone was more confident. He looked like he knew what he was about and knew his place in the world. Acted more like a king, not a prince. He had adopted a presence more akin to that of his father, despite not having the strong muscular build that Varian did. 

Wrathion wasn't sure what to make of this change other than he knew he liked it.

"What face?" He blinked innocently at Anduin a few times. Wrathion hoped he didn't suddenly seem inadequate in the face of Anduin's new changes. With a languid smile Anduin came and sat on his side of the bed, pawing at his companion's flank.

"The annoyed thinking face." Anduin replied cheerfully grabbing onto Wrathion's side finally and dragging the dragon closer, gently butting their heads together once Wrathion arrived.

Now this was the attention that Wrathion had wanted. 

Wrathion returned the gesture but didn't pounce on Anduin like he expected himself to. Even Anduin looked caught off guard. Instead he was curious, "you meditate every morning?" Wrathion asked.

"Most." Anduin nodded reaching up and trying to comb down Wrathion's wild curls with a single hand in a single stroke. An impossible task but one the priest attempted nonetheless.

"What does the Light tell you?" Wrathion let his eyes fall shut while Anduin worked to tame Wrathion's mane.

"Depends on the day and what I ask it." Anduin sounded closer now, almost impossibly so. His volume had dropped significantly so as not to startle Wrathion. Their chests were close enough to touch if they both inhaled at the same time. Anduin's breaths were powerful and steady and Wrathion found his shortening and his heart soaring. He was still wanted by the priest despite not having matured so dramatically overnight. 

"What did you ask it today?" Wrathion breathed, slowly opening his eyes into Anduin's gentle blue gaze. Wrathion did like how close they were, not so close as to be mistaken for doing anything other than what they were actually doing, but close enough to hear his companion's heartbeat.

Anduin averted his gaze for a moment but held his ground. "I asked it if I was making the right choice. Choosing to be with you." His voice didn't waver like it might have previously. 

"And?" Wrathion processed the information, if the Light had told Anduin what Wrathion might do, Anduin certainly wouldn't be so close to Wrathion. Wrathion was not fond of the Light, mostly because he was a dragon and understood things differently than mortal religions encompassed, but it was still a respectable force. If it had optimism about _Anduin_ courting a _black dragon_ than surely the future couldn't be so bleak.

Wrathion hadn't noticed he had begun to purr. It sounded different than a household cat's but it was very much the same action. Wrathion's was deeper and came out louder than a cat's. Wrathion heard Anduin's amused huff. Anduin had a small smile that even the thought of sent butterflies to Wrathion's stomach. 

"And," Anduin began a few long moments later, allowing Wrathion to bask in the glow of getting the affection. "The Light gave me a vision of a kingdom that was flourishing, with a benevolent ruler, whose father was known for his honor." 

"Hm." Anduin was watching Wrathion very intently, just admiring. "What does that have to do with us?"

Anduin thought for a long time. "Well it means that good can come of this... It does imply my father's death but that is going to happen eventually." Anduin quieted for a moment. "Even if we'd prefer it not to."

Wrathion saw a very strange feeling flash through Anduin then. One that betrayed what his voice had not." "Your father means the world to you, doesn't he?"

Anduin looked away then. "Ever since my mother passed, he's been there when no one else was. Jaina cares for me, I know she does, but she has other things that take her farther away from home. But dad-" Anduin hesitated, "my father, he's always been there. He understands the loss of my mother better than anyone else ever will." Anduin paused, collecting himself. "I dread the day I will be without his guidance."

Wrathion wasn't sure how best to comfort the human. Wrathion didn't understand loss the way Anduin did. Both of Wrathion's parents had died before Wrathion had hatched. Sure he felt the loss of his parents but he had never known them, and they had been murderous monsters.

The closest he got to a mother who had loved him was a red dragon.

Rheastraza had been a red dragon who had firmly believed that the Black Dragonflight could be purified of N'zoth's corruption once again. She had researched and experimented until she found her answer. Collecting whelping corpses, a titan relic, a egg from a black dragon named Nyxondra. She combined the reagents and created a purified black dragon egg. Deathwing himself found out and came looking for the egg to destroy it. Rheastraza, in order to protect the egg, sacrificed her life, and that of one of her own eggs, to trick Deathwing into believing he had destroyed the purified egg.

The egg had survived, and now called himself Wrathion. Thanks only to Rheastraza's sacrifices was he free of N'zoth's influence. But even she had died not long after Nyxondra, who had been Wrathion's clutch mother. Deathwing had died the day that Wrathion had hatched a few seasons later. Which was an interesting twist of fate Wrathion supposed. To be born the day his deranged father died. 

Had Wrathion voiced this to Anduin, Wrathion suspected the priest probably would have responded with 'perhaps Azeroth needed to have a new Earth Warder before it could destroy the first.' Which to Wrathion made little sense but he had no better answer.

None of that helped him now though. His quick wit was failing him so instead he went with his gut, not a great option when his brain functioned but looked fine enough here, and nuzzled Anduin wordlessly, hoping he would convey his thoughts in the one touch.

Wrathion immediately felt like an idiot for having resorted to such an animalistic approach to the problem, but much to Wrathion's surprise, and relief, Anduin didn't comment, instead reaching up and running his fingers through Wrathion's hair idely. He seemed to understand. Anduin seemed fond of the wild black curls Wrathion had grown out since his first transformation into a human. The priest had occupied himself more than a few times by touching, playing with and combing through Wrathion's hair. Why Wrathion didn't know, what he did know is that the soft touches felt otherworldly. Which again made him feel like something of a beast, he was too proud to admit he liked Anduin's dexterous fingers curled between the black locks.

They lay together for a long time in silence. "But despite my worry I think that this can lead down a good path." Anduin said finally.

"Can?" Wrathion mumbled, his mind was faltering, it was like he was falling back asleep without actually losing consciousness.

"The future is not yet set in stone." Anduin murmured, leaning in and kissing Wrathion's cheek, which the dragon had turned to avoid the searching gaze of the priest. The weight of the secret he had to bare was almost too much. He was usually good at keeping his secrets but this one, a vision that could cause so much pain, was hard to hold back.

The feeling of the kiss warmed his face instantly. If he had felt embarrassed before it paled in comparison to how suddenly his body reacted now. Wrathion never got the chance to return it though because Anduin pushed himself up and stretched. "Let's get some food." Anduin yawned.

"Let's not." Wrathion countered, "we can stay here while no one else is awake."

Now it was Anduin's turn to flush red. The priest seemed to think this over in his head a few times before he shrugged. "I ate already so it's your loss not mine."

"Why are you offering to get food if you've already had breakfast?" Wrathion snorted.

"It was an offer for you, not me." Anduin replied.

Wrathion sighed dramatically, "You're insufferable." He purred. "Come here." Anduin smiled and lay back so Wrathion could sit up and kiss him properly. Anduin reciprocated the kiss and gently reached up to cup Wrathion's face.

Much like how Wrathion's emotions had multiplied, so to did the heat of the kiss. Hands reaching for fistfuls of clothing and tugging it away. Soon they both were panting and gazing at the others bare chests.

Yes, Anduin had some wounds, marks where ribs had been forced through the skin. Places where pieces of the object had lodged itself into the priest. Yet Wrathion found nothing but admiration towards them. Whatever had 'accidently' done this had been massive. Something that should not have fallen. Unless it was done on purpose.

Wrathion realized then, "Garrosh did this." He meant to phrase as a question but made it a statement.

Anduin glanced down, "yes." He admitted, "its why my leg hasn't healed properly either."

"Would you like to elaborate? I am intrigued." Wrathion pressed, Anduin knew he didn't have to tell if he didn't want to. Wrathion smiled softly at the human, Wrathion found he didn't have to force the smile like he did with most others.

Anduin sighed and kissed Wrathion again. The sigh originating from amusement, not hesitation. Wrathion, taking this as a good sign, gently ran his hands up Anduin's sides, Wrathion was basking in the vision of Anduin. Titans he was good to look at. Better to touch and feel each ridge and curve beneath his fingers. "It was supposed to be a peaceful confrontation, I arranged it in secret because Garrosh did not want to deal with my father. It went fine at first, but Garrosh grew impatient and he broke the bell I was using as a symbol of peace and crushed me beneath it."

"My wounds are much like yours were." Anduin continued. "Born of hate and fury and thus will never fully heal unless someone very close to me heals them magically."

Wrathion opened his mouth to say something, but found he had no solution to the problem so he shut his mouth again. "I wish I could-"

"Don't feel bad." Anduin interrupted, "it was my fault for going alone."

"An unwise action does not mean you get to be attacked and scarred for life." Wrathion retorted. Anduin seemed to run out of arguments then, choosing instead to roll on top of Wrathion and kiss him again, fiercely this time. 

Wrathion smiled against the kiss, he couldn't help it, Anduin was so genuinely happy to be here with Wrathion. He was ready to just spend all of eternity there with Anduin at the cusp of dawn.


	16. Resurrection

**_Anduin..._ **

***  
Anduin's vision changed and now he floated effortlessly in space. In front of him was a beautiful and celestial creature.

Towering over him was a fragmented star type creature who's pieces floated together, bound together by light and gravity around a central 'heart piece'. A Naaru. Creatures representative of the Light itself. Much like the Dragon Aspects, Naaru were just a step lower than beings such as gods or titans. This one, Anduin knew well, its name was Saa'ra. It, Anduin hesitated to call it male or female since Naaru did not categorize themselves by mortal definitions. Much the way that many dragons did not label themselves gay or straight. Their species interpreted such concepts differently.

That aside, Saa'ra was a lesser Naaru and not well known among many priests, however it spoke to Anduin upon occasion.

Saa'ra hovered silently before him.

"How can I help you, mighty Naaru?" Anduin bowed freely in the vast expanse of space. His leg wouldn't bother him out here. A blessing he wished carried into the waking world. 

**_You came seeking my audience._** The narru answered. **_You seek answers._ **

"Well... I'm starting out with this guy and I needed to know if it would be absolutely devastating to continue a relationship with him."

_**To continue down this path you must make sacrifices and he may be one. Let me show you."**_

_******* _

_**_Anduin slammed his father's sword into the damp earth, his body flooding, burning, searing with Light. He was blinded by the gold that erupted around him. He saw the Banshee Queen hiss in pain and stagger back, but the spell was not meant to harm. Around him, the dead began to rise, the bodies that had just fallen to the swampy ground, mangled and beaten, healed and stood again. The soldiers returning to fight besides their_ King _. The warriors cheered and charged into the enemy forces, renewed. Despite Anduin's panic that he had just created mindless undead, his thoughts were calm as the light faded._** _

_**_The Banshee Queen's face twisted into a scowl and she ordered her Forsaken, undead with free will and allied with the Horde staggered under the mass of renewed Alliance troops._ ** _

_**_Anduin regained himself and plucked one of his father's blades off the ground. Where the other one was Anduin didn't know. His armor was full plate and he wore a lion's head helmet. His bad leg shot a phantom pain up his spine and he turned around suddenly to slash a Forsaken to pieces. He then charged the Banshee Queen. His leg working at full capacity save that one surge of pain._ ** _

_**_Anduin slammed into the stunned Banshee Queen._ ** _

_**_The vision changed to a picture of what Anduin new to be a destroyed segment of Stormwind, razed in Deathwing's assault on the city._ ** _

_**_Except it was no longer ruins, now it was a lush garden with a beautiful fountain setup so curtains of water drizzled down under the stairs onto the new set up._ Lion's Rest. _Anduin knew for some reason. He strode with purpose to a memorial. It was dark out, so late Anduin doubted anyone else would be out. He kneeled at the face of the tomb. His heavy metal knee plates slamming into the exceptional Masonry of the whole platform. "Father..." Anduin began shakily. "I don't know if I can do this... please I need a sign... please tell me if I'm doing the right thing. Anything! Please, you always knew what to do but I don't. I'm not you." Anduin felt a light dusting of rain splatter against his face as the first of his tears began to fall._** _

_**_"I'm sorry I'm such a failure." Anduin snarled to himself._ ** _

_**_Anduin jumped when a hand was set on his shoulder. "You are not a failure." Wrathion soothed somewhere behind him. Despite the dragon sounding older there was no doubt in Anduin's mind it was the Earth Warder. Anduin turned and squeezed the dragon to him tightly. Wrathion purred softly in reply. "You, my dear are doing wonderfully."_ ** _

_******* _


End file.
